


Golden fire in the field

by WhiteSky1999



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Eventual roommates, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Modern Fantasy AU, Slow Burn, This was supposed to be shorter, ah well, cursed mansion, non-binary Alma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-12-03 20:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11539515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteSky1999/pseuds/WhiteSky1999
Summary: ‘Lavi let out a tired sigh and turned around again, hoping to find some sign that he wasn’t alone in the wheat field. He reacted slowly, but when the silhouette of a huge mansion appeared in front of him, he jumped and cursed in the silence. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he was pretty sure that the mansion wasn’t there before. ‘In which Lavi gets himself in a really weird situation and a white-haired boy helps him learn an important part of himself that would change his life. He could only hope it was for the better.





	1. Afraid of change

Lavi was trying. He really was, but the words in the page made no sense to him, no matter how many times he read them, over and over again. His hands made restless gestures, like turning on and off the lock screen of his phone. He didn’t even look at the picture of the sunset or the time. He sighed.

He loved history. He liked having that knowledge stored in his mind. His eidetic memory helped him remember the most important dates and details that no one in his class could write in their exams. Sometimes he knew something that not even his teacher had on his notes and Lavi just shrugged. He didn’t really want the attention, no matter how the people around him showered him in compliments later.

But he  _ hated _ the exams with a burning passion. They were a bad choice if they really wanted them to learn something. Some people just studied the notes by heart and the next day they didn’t remember anything. 

He looked at his lockscreen again and contemplated texting Lenalee, Kanda, Marie, Miranda and Daysia. Then he shook his head. Miranda had had to work that day and she wasn’t really fond of drinking, and Marie was out of the city. Maybe the rest could go to some pub and drink something while they complained about the new assignments and the finals that started in a few weeks. He grimaced. Kanda wouldn’t want to go. He was still down, no matter what they did to try to drag him out of his apartment. The car accident was more or less a year ago and he hadn’t really recovered from his loss. Lavi knew he needed a distraction, something to keep him going, but he also knew that his Japanese friend was too stubborn and that accident took him away from someone that played a fundamental part of his life. 

He fidgeted with his pen for a moment, before letting it fall against the dark wood of his desk and taking his phone. He wrote a fast message and stood up from his chair. He stretched his arms above his head with a grunt and sighed, running his hands through his freckled face.

The answer was immediate and he smiled when Lenalee and Daisya agreed to go out. Lavi laughed when Lenalee texted him saying that if she saw him wearing his ‘hideous’ yellow jacket she would kick him. 

“Typical Lena,” he murmured and locked his phone again. 

He munched on a sandwich while he glanced over his messy room, searching for clothing that would be decent enough for his fashionable friend. She always said that his style was one of a kind, but he couldn’t say if that was a good thing. His patterned shirts were awesome, thank you very much. So, just to spite her, he put one on. 

He opened a window and shivered when the cold winter air hit his face. His orange scarf was always a yes, but now that snow was threatening to fall from the sky at any moment, it became a necessity. He glared at the papers thrown around his desk and passed by them without even collecting them. Fuck finals, honestly. 

The owner of the bar, Anita, knew them from before they started university. They usually came after high school to eat the delicious snacks they served and somehow they became regulars. 

“Ah, Lavi, Lenalee is on that booth over there,” welcomed Anita from behind the counter. She served him his usual beer in the seconds he needed to cross the room. 

“Thanks, Anita!” He waved cheerfully at her while he tried to peel off the layers of his outfit with only one hand and walked to the booth. 

“Lavi, you’re wearing one of those shirts, aren’t you?” sighed Lenalee when he was within earshot. Although her voice was exasperated, she was smiling. Her cheeks and nose were still red from the cold. 

“But of course, Lena,” said Lavi with a wide grin. He took off his scarf and coat and poked his cold face. He supposed it was as red as his friend’s. “Daysia is late again, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is,” laughed Lenalee and took a sip of her drink. Lavi made an indignant noise.

“It’s my job to arrive late at these things,” he said and pushed aside his red hair. “He’s stealing my fantastic job, I need to have a chat with him.”

Lenalee only laughed. They waited for Daysia for another ten minutes, talking about how Lenalee was handling university and how Lavi was thinking of painting his bedroom. Daysia arrived with a cheerful smile.

“Hey, I have good news guys,” he said and reached inside his jacket pocket. Lavi arched an eyebrow, but his eyepatch didn’t really make it obvious. His visible eye widened when he caught sight of the car keys dangling from his friend’s finger. “I managed to get the car tonight.”

“Is it really a good idea?” asked immediately Lenalee with a frown. Lavi was about to say that it was, that it was a good opportunity to get closer to the city centre, but the girl’s expression hardened. “I mean, we’re gonna drink, aren’t we?”

Lavi closed his mouth and frowned too. He supposed it wasn’t the best idea for a saturday night, but they didn’t usually drink that much. Daysia was the one who could drink to the point of throwing up everything in his stomach, but Lenalee and himself rarely got drunk enough to not see straight. Well, mostly just Lena, Lavi could lose control too easily. 

“Oh, c’mon. The police is usually on the other side of the city, it’s basically impossible to get caught this time,” said Daysia with the most convincing voice he could manage. 

Lavi bit his lip and sighed quietly. Well, they wouldn’t lose anything for trying. If they saw the police, they could just park at another street and continue walking. It would be a pain, but a cold would be better than a ban for driving when drunk. So, he smiled again just when Lenalee looked at him searching for support. 

“We could try, Lena,” he said and the girl rolled her eyes. “Well, it could work. Any problem, we park, okay?”

There was a moment of silence while the younger one of the group thought about it. Lavi fidgeted with the edge of his scarf and he could see how Daisya touched the edge of his coat as if he wanted to take it off. Which he probably wanted to do. After some minutes that seemed hours for Lavi, Lenalee sighed softly.

“Fine,” she grumbled and started putting her coat on before wrapping the purple scarf around her neck. Lavi grinned at Daysia and did the same. He hoped that there wouldn’t be any problem.

“So… Kanda isn’t here, uh?” asked Daysia when they entered the dark car of Daysia’s father. Tiedoll was also Kanda’s father, but he had moved to another house with his then best friend. Lenalee and Lavi closed the doors of the car at the same time.

“He didn’t answer my message,” commented Lavi and wrapped his coat tighter around his body. Lenalee lowered her own head and looked at her phone’s empty screen.

“I sent him some as well, but he hasn’t opened them,” she sighed. Daysia hummed.

Lavi hadn’t expected Kanda to go out with them that day. They rarely saw each other anymore and he had become quieter when they were together. It had made Lavi helpless, but now he just didn’t know if he should continue to force Kanda into something he didn’t want to do. 

The city centre was boiling with people, even in the cold of winter. The pubs were full of students drinking, dancing and talking. Lavi stumbled for a moment and thought of going back home. It wasn’t the first time it happened.  While he usually liked company, so many people in the same closed space tended to make him uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, he smiled and walked behind Lenalee and Daisya. He was tall enough to see above their heads and he searched the nearest bar for any acquaintances. No luck, it seemed.

After some drinks, his mind started going fuzzy and he didn’t realise when they left the bar and entered another. Daysia kept passing him drinks and he could hear him laughing and talking with someone that sounded suspiciously like a girl about dating Lavi. Lavi was pretty sure the girl wasn’t Lenalee. The voice was too high and, even though both of them had short dark hair, that mysterious girl’s skin was too tanned. 

He could remember going to the bathroom and splashing water on his face. When he looked back up to make sure his hair was still messy but not too much, he nearly fell against the sink. He screwed his eye shut and counted to ten in his head. What he had seen, or thought he had seen, wasn’t real. Nobody had orange light coming from their bodies. 

“Really, why does this always happen?” he asked himself, gripping the sink with both hands. 

He ignored the couple that were making out on the hallway and stumbled up the stairs again, massaging his temples. Every time he got too drunk, he saw the illusion of orange light coming out from his body. It was unsettling and he always bowed to never drink again that much, but he always did in the end. He couldn’t bring himself to say no to the drinks his friends gave him, if only to fit in.

He spent some minutes roaming the bar, hopping to see his friends somewhere. They needed to go home, it was already 2 am and the finals were getting closer. His head was spinning more than before and the lights of the club were mere blurs. He finally caught the distinct color of Lenalee’s jacket and he ran into a lot of people in his hurry, but he didn’t bother to apologize to any of them. They were all too drunk to care, anyway. 

“Lavi! Where were you?” Lenalee was wobbly on her legs and part of her drink fell on the floor when she turned to smile at him. Lavi closed his eye for a moment, begging his head to  _ stop spinning already. _

“Bathroom,” he said simply and looked around. Daysia was leaning on the wall, his face pale and empty glass on his hand. “We should go home, guys.”

“Yeah… yeah, we should,” mumbled the girl. Her expression changed to a serious one and she left her glass on a table. She bit her lip when she looked back at Daisya. She shook her head and her eyes became more or less focused. “I’ll drive, you two would only crash the car.”

“Is that really a good idea?” asked Lavi with worry. He knew that his friend wasn’t the best at handling the alcohol and they could just wait outside until he could drive. Plus, Lenalee didn’t know how to get to each of their houses from there. He wondered if he looked that bad.

“Yes, now c’mon,” said Lenalee and took Daysia’s right arm. Without saying another word, Lavi took the left one and both of them managed, somehow, to get out of the crowded bar. 

The cold air was helpful for him and his head seemed clearer, but he still stumbled when they walked to the car. Daysia was laying on the back seats in no time and Lenalee got in the driver’s seat with Lavi at her side. The first minutes were silent while Lenalee drove through the town. 

At some point, Lavi closed his eyes and drifted off, into a world of gold fields. When he looked down, to his arm, he yelped when he saw the orange light coming out from it. Not only that, fire was consuming his surroundings at an alarming rate. He could swear that someone was calling him, but he just started running. He didn’t know where he was going in his panic. The calls were getting weaker by the second until he could only hear his ragged breathing and beating heart. The fire still came for him, he looked back and screamed when the flames reached out for him, calling him again with impatience, like…

“Lavi, wake up already!” shouted his friend, Lenalee. Lavi jumped in his seat and hit his hand on the car window. He hissed, but looked around when he assimilated that everything was too dark for them to be in the city. “We have a problem, Lavi.”

“I think I can see that,” he mumbled and looked around the place through the windows. They were in some kind of field, with tall trees at one side, and a path cutting through the immense area of wheat. The nightmare became blurred until he couldn’t remember more than a orange light. “Where are we?”

“We are at home, guys, let’s go,” groaned Daysia from the back seats. Lavi frowned.

“We are definitely not at home, Daysia, so stay right there,” hissed Lenalee. The redhead flinched at her angry tone. What happened while he was asleep? “I asked him where he lived and he led me here. Which I’m pretty sure isn’t his home.” She glared at his lying form. “And now we don’t have enough fuel to go back anywhere and we’re lost in the middle of nowhere.”

“Great,” growled Lavi and hit his head on the window. He closed his eye. It was the perfect end for that night. First he drank too much alcohol and that stupid illusion came back to haunt him and then, they had to get lost on some godforsaken wheat field. 

With another growl, he opened the door and got off the car. He hadn’t even put on the seat belt. He looked at his phone. No signal. It didn’t really surprise him, but he started pacing in front of the car out of frustration. His head was much clearer after his nap. Taking into account that it was 2:34 am, they didn’t really get too far from the city. But they still had no idea where they were. He started looking around for the hundredth time.

Lenalee came out from the car and wrapped her coat tighter around her body. She still wobbled on her feet. Lavi deduced that she didn’t really pay any attention on where they were going because she was too focused on not crashing the car. The redhead sighed quietly. 

“Maybe we should look around? See if there’s anyone around here?” asked Lenalee softly. She was ashamed. 

“I doubt there will be anyone around,” said Lavi in the most friendly voice he could. Lenalee slumped some more against the car. Lavi smiled. “But, we could always try. I’ll go take a look around. If I can’t see anyone, I’ll try going back on foot. If I’m not back in half an hour, you should do the same.”

“I’ll have to carry Daisya with me, then,” said Lenalee, rolling her eyes. Lavi looked towards the wheat field and back to her with a rueful smile.

“I’m afraid so,” said Lavi. Lenalee sighed and opened the car door again. 

“I’m only agreeing to this because I’m freezing, Lavi,” mumbled Lenalee. “If we don’t see each other, at least text me when you have signal again. I’ll do the same. If you don’t, I’ll worry.”

And with that last glare, she got into the car and slammed the door closed. Lavi chuckled and started walking, with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Of course she would worry, she was Lenalee, after all.

The cold air didn’t really help with his slight dizziness. He sometimes found himself leaning to his right or left. The path seemed endless and he could see nothing more than wheat on all sides, as far as he could see. His rational side, however, made him think that, if there was a path, it would lead him somewhere. He didn’t know how much he walked, but he was pretty sure it was half an hour already. When he checked his phone, he cursed when he saw the low battery. 

With a long suffering sigh, Lavi stepped in the wheat field and cut through it, hoping to see something in the middle of it. He squinted, but he could only see the faint silhouettes of the trees far away. No houses or signs of life. He looked around again and stopped in the middle of the field, massaging his head until the dizziness went away.

“I should probably head to town, before my phone dies.” Lavi laughed lightly. “Lena will kill me if I don’t text her.”

Lavi let out a tired sigh and turned around again. He reacted slowly, but when the silhouette of a huge mansion appeared in front of him, he jumped and cursed in the silence. Maybe it was the alcohol, but he was pretty sure that the mansion wasn’t there before.

“What the actual hell?” he asked himself. He looked at his nearly dead phone, then at the mansion again. His eye caught the light in one of the windows. He couldn’t make out the mansion’s details in the dark, and he was still too dizzy to really focus on them, but he could only think of one thing. “That means that there’s people in it, right?”

With a shrug and a stumble, he started walking towards the mansion. He caught sight of a tree and he found himself frowning at it, but he shook his head some minutes later and continued walking. He had some difficulty with the stairs, but he managed to get to the elegant doors. He looked around, searching for a doorbell and when he found it, he hesitated. Why would he go into the big mysterious mansion? He was like one of those idiots from the horror films. But then, his head throbbed, the phone in his pocket reminded him that it was low on battery with an irritatingly high sound and he made his mind. It was impossible that a serial killer lived in a mansion so elegant, anyway.

He rang the doorbell and waited. He rubbed his hands and breathed on them, trying to warm them. He should have put on gloves. 

The door opened moments after and Lavi jumped. He raised his head, but not much, because in front of him there was a teenager. The first thing he noticed about him was the white hair. It was clear that it wasn’t bleached; his eyebrows and even his eyelashes were the same color, and that confused Lavi. It was styled in an undercut, but his long fringe didn’t cover the long scar that went through the left side of his face and over his eye, topped with an upside down star. He wondered what had happened to him, but then he decided it wasn’t his business. Lavi managed to smile, even if he was shivering violently at that point.

“Good night, or good morning, I dunno which one it is, and I know it’s really late and all but… do you have phone?” asked Lavi. The boy, who looked to be around 18 year old, blinked and nodded slowly. Then he shook his head and smiled gently.

“I have one, don’t worry,” he said with a calm voice that warmed Lavi to the core. He stepped aside and gestured for him to enter the mansion. “You should come in, before you freeze at my doorstep.”

Lavi’s smile grew and he entered, taking in the cozy atmosphere the house seemed to have, the serene grey eyes of the boy and the mirror standing to the side of the door. He really looked awful, with his hair in disarray, the coat too tight around his body and dark circles under his eyes. 

The boy lead the way with a small smile and quiet steps. Lavi loosened his scarf and let himself sigh. The white-haired boy turned to him with a curious gaze, left hand in his black hoodie’s pocket. Lavi counted three earrings in his left ear, before he had to look at his eyes when he began talking.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” asked the boy. His smile turned teasing. “We don’t usually get visitors at 3am.”

“Ah, yeah, sorry about that.” Lavi laughed nervously. The boy put his phone in his white loose sport pants’ pocket and waved his hand in the air.

“I don’t really mind, I was watching videos in my phone, anyways, I wasn’t sleeping,” he said and smiled again. Lavi didn’t remember seeing a smile so calming. 

“Ah, that’s good then. We went to the city centre, you see, to drink and stuff,” said Lavi with a friendly tone that didn’t quite hide the tiredness he felt. “So, we got drunk and all that and my friend got us lost and without gas, so I need to think of someone who can come and get us.”

Maybe he could try to call Kanda. Bookman, his grandpa, was out of the city, and his other friends were either working and needed the sleep, or in another city. He was mulling over the issue when he ran into his temporary host. He quickly took various steps backwards and stared at the boy when he turned around with a suddenly serious expression.

“So, you want to get out of this field, correct?” he asked and Lavi jumped when his voice seemed older, more mature, more… powerful, somehow. Lavi swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“Yeah, that’s… what I- we want to do,” he answered in a voice that sounded too quiet even for him. The serious expression melted and a tired one took its place. Lavi stared, confused and nervous. Anxiety was building up on his chest.

“I’m so sorry,” said the boy and turned to him with a rueful smile, “but you can’t leave this field.”


	2. Cornelia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Lavi is a hysterical wreck, Nea is an asshole and Allen is a helpful host.

“What did you say?” asked Lavi. His voice was too quiet, but the boy seemed to hear it. 

“I said that you can’t leave this area,” repeated the white-haired boy with a calm voice. Lavi blinked.

“That can’t be right,” he said and looked around. He walked to a window and looked at the surroundings, searching for some kind of fence or barrier that would impede his escape from the area. He laughed when he didn’t see anything. “See? That’s impossible. There’s nothing there a-and how could we have entered if you can’t get out? That makes no sense!”

He didn’t realise he was hyperventilating until the relaxed hand of the boy was on his shoulder. He tried to calm his hysterical breathing, but his confused smile wouldn’t go away. The boy pushed him gently towards a room. When he used his left hand to open the door, Lavi noticed that it was covered in strange red tattoos that covered almost all of his pale skin. When they entered the room, Lavi saw that it was a bedroom, with a king-sized bed and a walk-in closet. 

“What I said is that you can’t leave this field. I never said anything about coming,” explained the boy and, somehow, he managed to sit him on the bed. Lavi frowned.

“That still doesn’t make sense,” he complained. The boy chuckled and leaned on the bedside table. 

Lavi tried to get his mind to stop spinning and stop thinking  _ so much _ , it was confusing him and he was already  _ so _ anxious because of the situation, he couldn’t think of anything more to  _ say  _ and-

“You should sleep. You look awful,” said the boy with a concerned gaze. Lavi’s mind stopped abruptly at the sound and he tried to use his melodic voice as an anchor. “I’ll explain at morning, but for now, there’s  _ nothing _ you can do about it.”

The boy turned to leave, but Lavi reached out and took his left wrist. This made the white-haired teen pause and look back at him with a surprised expression. Lavi realised that he had just touched that tattooed hand, but he didn’t think any of it. He didn’t think of the strange warmth that suddenly spread from his hand to his toes, either.

“I was with friends, they’re waiting for me,” he pleaded. The boy’s gaze turned hesitant. 

“I don’t think so,” he answered some seconds later. Lavi frowned again and released his hand. The boy immediately hid his hand in his pants’ pocket.

“You don’t think I have friends? Do I not have friends anymore? Wait, are they oka-?” Lavi’s voice shook with worry and fright and he tried to get up from the bed. The boy was faster and held him down with both hands on his shoulders and a slight smile.

“No, no. Sorry. I meant that your friends are already near the city. They’re perfectly fine,” he reassured and widened his smile. Lavi noticed, being closer to his pale face, that the smile didn’t really reach his eyes. They looked like mirrors; no color and without any real emotion. He could see sparks, but nothing specific. “You  _ really _ should sleep.”

This time, when the boy released his shoulders and walked away, Lavi didn’t reach out for him again. He just stared at him, hands slack against the soft covers of the bed, the image of those grey eyes ingrained in his brain. The boy disappeared behind the door with a soft smile. 

“What the hell just happened?” mumbled Lavi while he took off his coat. He hung it up on a chair and fell on the bed. His eye dropped and he growled. “Lena is going to kill me.”

He fell asleep seconds later.

And he dreamed.

He dreamed of the same golden field, which he then knew was wheat. The sky was a dark red color. He could see the mansion. He could see… he could see the boy, with his white hair, his gold and navy-blue earrings and his grey too-blank eyes. He wanted to see real emotion in them, he wanted to see him happy, he wanted to… 

He screamed when the fire returned, climbing his legs and torso until all he could see was orange and red. The boy shouted at him, but Lavi couldn’t do anything. He fell into the abyss, he thrashed around, cursed the orange light that haunted him and the fire that tormented him in his nightmares.

He woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. White with gold ornaments on the edges. A huge window and red curtains that blocked nearly all the light coming through it. He struggled to catch his breath and closed his eye. Why was he there? He wasn’t home, that was obvious. Then, where was… he?

The night’s events caught up with him and he sat up on his bed. It was too fast, because his head started spinning out of control. He closed his eye and massaged his temples. 

Last night. The bar. The orange light. The field. The car. Daysia. Lena. The  _ field _ . The mansion. The boy.  _ The field _ . The  _ field _ that had just appeared in his nightmare.

He jumped out from the bed and, without even grabbing his coat, stepped out from the room. He walked quickly to the front door. He was nearly running. He opened it and walked down the steps, frowning. The sky was blue, with a few white clouds floating around lazily, and the wheat field looked a lot more golden and intimidating compared to the previous night. Lavi shivered, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold.

He started running for real. In a straight line, away from the mansion. He ignored his throbbing head and charged down the hill. 

“Let’s see if I really can’t leave this fucking place,” he growled. 

Suddenly, a zap ran over his whole body and he stopped. His green eye widened and his hands started trembling.

“It can’t be…” he murmured.

The mansion was in front of him again. 

He yelled a curse and ran again in a straight line, but  _ it _ happened again and the mansion appeared in front of him. Mocking him. He growled. 

He didn’t know how many times he did that, run in a line, only to be back again at the start. He must have looked stupid to the boy, if he was watching him, that is. Lavi looked around, leaning against the lonely tree. He was still trembling and his green eye was still furious. He looked to the tree.

“It’s your fault, isn’t it?” he grunted and, turning on his heels, he punched the trunk of the tree. Again. And again. Until his knuckles became red and a few drops of blood came out from the cuts. “Fuck, fuck, _fuck_.”

“Don’t punch Cornelia, or you can say bye to leaving this place,” said an amused voice from behind him. Lavi turned again, his head did a somersault and he was suddenly looking straight at the pale eyes of the boy. 

Cornelia? Did he mean the tree?  _ ‘Oh, great, the fucking tree has a name now.’ _

“You better start explaining,” said Lavi in a low voice, trying- and failing- to calm down. The white-haired male smiled again and pointed back to the mansion.

“That’s what I was gonna do, but you weren’t in your room.” He shrugged and started walking back to the house, but this time, he was going around it. Lavi didn’t have another option but to follow him. “I suppose you didn’t have any breakfast, of course you didn’t. Well, I can explain while we eat.”

The boy led him through a back door and they entered what Lavi guessed to be the kitchen. It wasn’t exactly old, which was what Lavi expected, but it wasn’t an extremely modern one. There were some flowerpots hanging from the ceiling around the windows and the furniture was mostly made from a red-ish wood that smelled somewhat sweet. Lavi felt at ease almost immediately. 

“Katerina, my grandma, made us breakfast before going back to the common room to sew,” commented the boy and put some plates on the wood table. Lavi’s stomach growled when he saw the delicious toasts and bread rolls. “Ah, we didn’t even introduce ourselves.”

Lavi looked back at the boy when he laughed and he blinked. The white-haired teen held out his right hand. Lavi noticed his left was in his pocket again. He wondered why, but accepted the hand and even managed to smile.

“My name is Lavi, Lavi Bookman.” The boy’s smile softened.

“My name is Allen Walker. It’s a pleasure to meet you,  Lavi _ Bookman _ ,” said the boy, and Lavi shivered. Then he held his head when another dizzy spell hit him. “Ah, yeah, hangover. I forgot. I’ll find you something.”

Lavi watched him go through another door. His step were nearly soundless and that made him uneasy. He didn’t know exactly why, but the boy looked too mature in his eyes. No 18 year old looked like that. He seemed to carry a burden so heavy that he distanced himself from others. It was weird, but also sad. 

He had just started munching on a toast when the boy,  _ Allen _ , came back with some pills in his hand. His right, again. The left was still hidden. He placed them on the table and then searched the cupboards for some mugs. It was such a normal scene that Lavi _nearly_ forgot that it wasn’t that,  normal . 

When Allen returned with two steaming mugs of black coffee, Lavi’s expression turned serious. He stared at Allen while the white-haired boy mixed the four spoonfuls of sugar in his coffee. 

“Yes, yes, I’ll explain.” Allen took a sip and, seemingly satisfied with the taste, started on a bread roll. “It isn’t really that complicated, you see.”

“Enlighten me, then,” snapped Lavi. Allen arched an eyebrow, but then his calm expression returned. He put the pills and a glass of water in front of Lavi.

“It all boils down to my uncle being too resentful,” explained the boy with a shrug. Lavi frowned. “At that time, people usually came by and messed with the mansion. Usual stuff, the family was really rich then. I don’t know a lot of details apart from what grandma told me, but uncle Nea cursed the mansion so that every outsider that came inside this area would need a key of some sort to leave.”

Lavi’s brain short-circuited at “cursed”. He blinked and paused after taking the medication. 

“Cursed?” he repeated. Allen hummed, his hands wrapped in his hoodie’s sleeves around his mug. 

“Yes, cursed.” Lavi could almost swear that his companion was  _ bored _ . Like he’d had that conversation too many times.

“Cursed, as in, magic?” he asked. Allen stared at him with a relaxed smile. 

“Of course,” he answered and reached out for another toast. “It’s a simple spell but it’s difficult to affect such a wide area. Ah, well, some wizards can do it, but my uncle is not exactly a wizard. “

Lavi lowered his gaze to the coffee. Wizards. Magic. Everything was spinning in his head and he wasn’t sure if it was the hangover or the information he had just learned. He thought of all the fantasy novels he had read when he was a child, before he had switched to realistic ones after his grandfather had grumbled that he was a daydreaming idiot. Wizards.  _ Magic _ . He couldn't leave the area. He had seen it. He always came back to the mansion. No matter how much he ran. 

“This…  isn’t a joke, right?” mumbled Lavi. He didn’t raise his head, but he could feel the eyes of the boy on him. 

“I wish it was, but it’s not,” sighed Allen. His hand was suddenly on his shoulder and Lavi found himself anchoring himself to that touch. His world was collapsing around him. “As I said before, you can still leave. But you’ll need a key.”

“A key?” asked Lavi. The boy smiled again when he raised his head. Lavi noticed the faint groups of freckles on his cheeks.

“Yes, but you’ll need to do something to obtain it,” he explained. He returned to his food. 

“What do I need to do?” asked Lavi hurriedly. Allen took another bite, and then he shrugged. Lavi frowned. 

“I don’t know. It usually depends on the person,” said the white-haired boy. Lavi bit his lip and lowered his head, gripping the mug in his hands. Allen’s smile disappeared and Lavi was surprised when his eyes turned fierce. “But we'll figure it out and you’ll be back home in no time.”

Lavi couldn’t help but to stare. His eyes looked determined and his mouth was set in a thin line.

He imagined Lenalee, pacing in her room, trying to call him and only getting more worried when he didn't answer. She would call Kanda and, even if he acted like he didn't care, he would be worried too. Daisya would be confused and would try to ask around. Miranda would have a breakdown and Marie would try to help her and maybe support Daisya’s search. He  _ had _ to go back. There was no other option. 

“I need to get out of here. Definitely,” he said with the most determined voice he could manage. 

“Of course,” smiled the boy. “I’ll help you.”

Lavi blinked, confused. He was going to help him? Didn’t he live there? A lot of conspiratory stories appeared in his mind. But he crossed them all out immediately. He couldn’t say no to help, not in his position. He couldn’t help but ask, anyway. 

“You are gonna help me?” Lavi tilted his head. The boy widened his smile and finished his coffee. 

“It’s my uncle’s fault that you’re here,” he explained. He got up from the wooden chair and collected their mugs. He left them on the counter and searched around the cupboards again. “Plus, you have friends waiting for you. You have a life.”

“Won’t it be a problem?” insisted Lavi, because he just couldn’t bring himself to joke around in that situation. The boy wrapped the leftovers in plastic and put them in the fridge. 

“Not really. Two people work faster than one and I was going to procrastinate on my work, anyway. This is more fun.” answered the boy. He closed the fridge with his left hand for once and Lavi gazed briefly to it, before looking at the boy’s smile again. It was dazzling, but there was a sad undertone that Lavi couldn’t ignore. He couldn’t say why. 

“So, procrastinate, uh?” said Lavi and arched an eyebrow. With his eyepatch, it was always a challenge to guess what he was doing, but he kept doing those gestures. 

“Yes, work is boring and I tend to leave my phone nearby,” admitted Allen with a smile that seemed too innocent. 

Lavi finally smiled and relaxed his shoulders. His head wasn’t sending stabs of pain, he had an objective and he had a seemingly good-natured host. He was still curious about him, his blank expression and his tattooed hand that he insisted on hiding. But he wouldn’t call him suspicious. He had all the right to have secrets. Lavi himself had some of them, as well. 

“So, where do we start, Al?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update one chapter a week, because I want to be regular for a change. I don't know if I'll stick to Saturdays, I'll look into it so it doesn't coincide with the days I go on vacation (I miss the majority of the Laven week because of it *sigh*).   
> Next chapter we have Katerina and a timeskip where things get interesting (plus more explanations and mysteries).


	3. Orange veil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Katerina is a good grandma, Allen finally figures things out and Lavi is still confused.

Lavi followed Allen around the huge mansion. They were headed to the common room, where Allen’s grandma, Katerina, was sewing. Lavi was still worried about his friend’s reactions, but he tried to be optimistic. He chatted with Allen to distract himself and looked around, admiring the elegant wooden furniture.

The common room was a wide space, with comfortable red sofas and glass coffee tables. There was a woman sitting in one of those sofas, sewing with her grey hair gathered up in a simple bun. Allen immediately smiled widely and walked quickly to her.

“Grandma Kate, I explained it all to our guest,” informed Allen when he was near enough to her. Lavi stood awkwardly to the side. He was usually an outgoing guy, but the situation put him on edge. So, he stuck close to Allen, the only person he knew.

The elderly woman raised her head from her work. Her wrinkles showed that she smiled a lot and Lavi was surprised that she wasn’t as old as he imagined. She wore a long maroon dress and long gold earrings. Her gaze was gentle and her smile welcoming. Lavi felt comfortable around her in a matter of seconds.

“Ah, I see, thank you, Allen,” she said with a soft voice similar to her grandson’s. Allen nodded slightly and sat on the sofa, next to her. Lavi was going to do the same in the other coach, but the woman stood up. She held out her right hand after giving the cloth she was working on to Allen. “My name is Katerina Eve Campbell, young boy.”

“Oh, I’m Lavi Bookman, ma’am,” he said and hurried to take her hand. She widened her smile.

“Although I’m the oldest, Allen here is the patriarch of the family. But, don’t hesitate to ask me for anything,” she said and winked at Allen. He laughed and stood up as well. Lavi saw a flash of red before he hid his left hand in his pocket again.

“Of course,” he smiled cheerfully. Katerina seemed to be satisfied with that, because she turned to her grandson again.

“You two should start working. The library is full of books that could help,” she said with a calm voice that seemed to echo around the room. “And Allen, dear, you should enjoy his stay. Youngsters like him don’t usually get stuck here.”

Lavi could feel his lips twitch in a smile. Katerina seemed like a friendly person, playful and caring. When they left the room, Lavi turned to his host with a grin. The white-haired male arched a white eyebrow.

“So, you should ‘enjoy my stay’, uh?” he repeated and wiggled his only visible eyebrow. Allen smiled and shook his head.

“Don’t get too full of yourself, Lavi,” he said and started walking down another corridor. “I’m not one of _those_ guys.”

“Oh, what kind of guy are you, then?” asked Lavi and his grin widened. Allen looked at him over his shoulder with a playful smirk.

“Wouldn’t you want to know?” he hummed and continued walking. Lavi blinked, still at the door. He grinned again. Playful banter and bickering was one of the best things in the world for him. He had a feeling that maybe he could be Allen’s friend.

He followed him again to the library, a giant room full of tall shelves filled with old books. Lavi inhaled the smell of ancient pages and ink, feeling as if he was back home in his grandfather’s personal library. He remembered all those times he had lost himself in the books, old and new, surrounded by piles of them and wrapped up with cozy blankets. He remembered when he didn’t really feel like going out, preferring to just stay inside reading.

“We should start with those books and see if we can figure something out,” said Allen and he pointed to some books.

 

* * *

 

Two days later, they weren’t any closer to figuring out what mission Lavi had to do to be able to get out of the mansion.

The redhead was frustrated, he was angry and he was tired. He liked reading, but he had read more than 50 books in less than three days. It didn't help that every night he had the same dream, over and over again. He was irritable and he sometimes snapped at Allen and Katerina. He always apologized afterwards. 

Allen himself was confused and he could be found glaring at the books they were consulting and at some photos of who Lavi could deduce was his uncle. He had seen some of them when they passed by them in the hall. Apparently, Allen’s uncle was a man whose tanned skin contrasted with his golden eyes. Lavi usually didn’t really pay attention to the eye-color, but he had seen something in those eyes. It was a rare color and they looked… too fierce and _harsh_ in some photos. His messy dark hair and the fact that he usually had his expensive-looking cane leaned on his shoulder gave him an almost laid-back appearance.

“What about…? No, we’ve already read this one,” said Allen and he growled. Lavi watched his companion fall onto the floor, narrowly missing a stack of books. His pale eyes glared at the ceiling. “This mansion is really weird and it’s all my asshole uncle’s fault.” Lavi blinked. In his short stay as the white-haired boy’s guest, he had never heard him swear. Ah, well.

“If you see him, give him a piece of my mind,” said Lavi and closed another book. A cloud of dust flew off from it and he sneezed.

“When you leave, I’ll go with you so I can find him and punch him in the face,” said Allen. He sat on the floor again. “Seriously, I can’t understand how he could be Mana’s twin.”

“Mana?” asked Lavi, curious. Allen never shared more than the occasional entertaining story of another person who had became stranded at the mansion or the boring days when he only left for the city when they needed something.

“Mana was my father,” explained Allen simply. Lavi caught ‘was’ and decided to leave it there. He didn’t want to upset the white-haired boy and it was clear that ‘Mana’ was a touchy subject. The absence of said man and the past tense could only mean that he was deceased. There wasn’t any mention of his mother, so he assumed it was the same. Lavi could relate, being an orphan himself.

“Well, if we leave together, you could live in my apartment. It’s too empty,” said Lavi with a laugh. He hoped it would lighten up the mood. It did.

“Oh, so you’re just returning the favor. It wouldn’t be another mystery house from where you can’t escape, would it?” replied Allen with a sly smile. Lavi grinned.

“I don’t think so, but there’s always hope,” he hummed. There was a pause, before both of them started laughing.

Even with the thoughts of going back to his apartment, saying that he was okay to his friends and finally study for his finals, he could feel a weight lifting up from his chest while he laughed side by side with his host. He could feel a deep connection with him, even if they had only known each other for three days. The light-hearted banter and the grins, the one armed hugs Lavi always gave the boy and the playful pokes he got in return. The boy still hid his tattooed hand nearly at all times, but Lavi thought that it had some kind of deeper meaning and didn’t pry.

“We should leave it for today,” said Allen when they caught their breaths again. Lavi nodded, sighed and started returning the books to their original places.

“So, do you know what’s for dinner, shorty?” asked Lavi, slinging his left arm around Allen’s shoulders. The boy bristled at the mention of his height and elbowed him on the stomach without hesitation. Lavi huffed and backed off, massaging the area. He sometimes forgot just how strong his companion was under all those baggy t-shirts and hoodies.

“I don’t really know, but I’m hungry,” replied the boy. Lavi laughed.

“When are you not hungry, Al?” joked Lavi. Well, he wasn’t wrong, either. Allen had a huge appetite and, no matter how much he ate, he didn’t gain weight and he didn’t get sick. It was a bit disgusting the first time he witnessed it, but then it was just awesome.

When they arrived at the dining room, Katerina had finished taking out the dinner to the table. Lavi could feel his mouth watering at the sight. The woman’s food was always great.

“No luck, I see,” she commented while they ate. Lavi grimaced and Allen stopped munching.

“I don’t understand,” complained Allen. He swallowed and reached out for the salad. “I haven’t been here that long, but every time this happened the mission was to search for some kind of lost object. I can’t think of anything else.”

Katerina hummed. Lavi rolled his food around the table absentmindedly. It was at those times that he remembered his life outside the mansion, the friends that were worried for him.

“You know, sometimes the mission is to realize something about yourself,” said the woman. Her gaze was fixed on Lavi, calm and hopeful. The redhead frowned and looked back at his food. “And Allen, maybe you should try to _see_ harder.”

Lavi scrunched his nose at that. More secrets? He didn’t know if he could take more of that supernatural stuff. He looked at his companion from the corner of his eye. Allen seemed to know that he didn’t like people he didn’t have confidence with standing at his blind side. It was comforting, but not really surprising. Both of them seemed to communicate with the other with simple gestures.

Allen was staring at his glass of water with an intensity that made Lavi uneasy. But then, the white-haired host turned his head to him and smiled and Lavi found himself relaxing again.

Lavi was thumbing through his phone later that night when he came across the Twitter app. He frowned. Then he hit his forehead with his hand. Really? He had been leaching the wifi of his hosts _and he didn’t realize he could contact his friends through the Internet_.

“I’m such a fucking idiot,” he growled. Lena was going to kill him. Slowly and painfully. Kanda too, Kanda would provide the weapons and take part in the party.

“You are, but I need something more specific,” said Allen from the door. Lavi jumped and he wrote some gibberish in the chat box.

“Do you remember that I _had_ friends and that they are probably very worried about me and there’s probably a search party looking for me?” grumbled Lavi and corrected his message. He counted ten ‘I’m sorry’s, but he still felt like they were not enough. “Yeah, so I forgot that internet was a thing.”

Allen paused at the door, two cans of Coke in his hands. Lavi tapped furiously at his phone.

“Oh,” was the intelligent reply he got from the boy. “We were next level idiots, weren’t we?”

Lavi answer was a growl. He sent the message and hopped for the best.

“Lena is gonna kill me, bring me back to life, then kill me again,” he whimpered. Allen left the cans on the bedside table and sat on the bed.

“And she’ll have all the reason to,” he said simply. Lavi glared half-heartedly at him from the other side of the bed where he was lying down.

“I thought you were on my side,” he mumbled and poked at his host’s back. Allen looked at him over his shoulder and pretended to throw the Coke at his face.

“I am. You were hysterical and you were focused on leaving this place,” he said and shrugged. “But they were worried and we should have noticed that, yes, the internet is a thing that works here.”

Lavi huffed and messed his hair. At least he had said something. He just hoped that the search party was called off, somehow. He didn’t want to deal with the police.

He looked at Allen from the corner of his eye when he laid down next to him, sipping his Coke. He hadn’t really thought much about it, but what they discussed earlier about Allen moving in with him was actually an interesting idea. Over the three days they had spent together they had managed to create a strong friendship. Lavi usually needed some time to be completely relaxed in someone's company, but with Allen it was something natural. Like they had been friends for years. However, the sorrowful spark his grey eyes sometimes took saddened him.

They spent the next hour sipping the Cokes and watching videos on YouTube. It was late, so Lavi wasn’t that worried about getting a reply from his friends. He could relax with his new friend.

It was some time later, when Lavi was sleepy and thinking of going to sleep already when he noticed Allen staring at him like he was an interesting painting. Lavi felt weirded out, to say the least.

“Uh, Allen, dude, why are you looking at me like that?” he asked. Allen didn’t look away, he just frowned at him. His gaze turned confused.

“You know, Lavi, you’re surrounded by orange fire,” he said. Lavi froze.

“Al, you should stop drinking that stuff,” said Lavi and pointed at the Coke in his right hand. Allen shook his head, left the can on the table and sat straight.

“No, Lavi, I’m serious,” he insisted. Lavi tried to keep the memories from all those times he had seen the orange light coming from his body at bay. It didn’t work. “Lavi, you have an actual _aura_.”

“The fuck is an aura?” asked Lavi immediately. His heart started speeding up and he felt completely awake. _‘Here we go with the supernatural mumbo-jumbo.’_

“An aura is the energy a magic being releases in their surroundings. Only magic beings have one and only magic beings can see it,” explained the boy. He smiled. “You’re magic, Lavi.”

Lavi blinked. Magic. Him. It couldn’t be.

“There has never been anything out of the ordinary in my life,” he said. Allen scratched his head and messed up his hair. _‘Except that orange light.’_

“Well, it isn’t necessary. I mean, it’s not like in those series where the characters just start doing weird things at a certain age,” commented Allen. Lavi growled and fell down on the bed again. It was too late for this. “Usually, the magic powers and abilities and what not come from the bloodline. If the family is one of vampires, the offspring will be vampires too.”

“I don’t know my parents,” blurted Lavi. “I’ve lived with my grandpa ever since I was three.”

Allen hummed and lowered his head. Meanwhile, Lavi tried to sort out his thoughts. The existence of magic still confused him and made him think that he was dreaming. Ever since that night, he had woken up thinking that he was back home and that everything had been a weird dream created by his stressed-out brain. But he opened his eye and saw the same white and gold ceiling and the huge room and he knew it was reality.

But to think that those stupid novels and series were real was too much. Well, Allen would know more, because the series and books were really inaccurate the majority of times and he supposed this was no different. Still, he was walking through the conversation like it was something that didn’t apply to him, like it was just a discussion on a book. He couldn’t afford that.

“Then, I think that we’ve found your mission,” said Allen. Lavi was snapped out from his thoughts and he made a confused sound. The white-haired host smiled again. “Remember what Grandma Kate said, ‘sometimes the mission is learning something about yourself’. You have to learn what kind of magic being you are.”

Lavi blinked again like an idiot until he finally processed what had been said. Then he lowered his head. He was magic. He really was involved in that mess.

He sighed.

“Let’s start tomorrow,” he said and he felt like they had added ten years more to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say, other than these two are easier to write if they're in good terms. They're so laid-back, it's refreshing. Next chapter we have Allen's 'good ideas'.


	4. Hidden world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavi is confused again, Allen's ideas aren't the best and Timcanpy the dog makes his appearance.

Lavi awoke later than the day before, had breakfast alone and, somehow, managed to clear his head and accept the weird occurrences of those past days. He got stuck in a limited area around a mansion and he learned that he was some magic being. The problem was, that he didn’t have any idea of what magical being he was. And he needed that to escape the mansion. Great.

When he turned on his phone, there were nearly 50 messages from his friends. Lenalee called him “idiot” in all caps more than 10 times. She had some typos, which she never did, so Lavi supposed she was crying. Kanda threatened to kill him and sent him some of the ways he could think of doing it at 6 am. Daisya swore to shove his ball up his ass. Miranda sent some gibberish and Marie promised to call the search party off. Lavi sighed.

He replied to everyone, a smile forming on his face. He didn’t really say much on his messages, only that he was okay, he had managed to stay at someone's place and that he would return as soon as possible. 

He searched for his white-haired friend around the lower floor. The boy usually woke up before him, but later than Katerina. Lavi saw said woman shuffling through various papers. He tilted his head. Katerina was the one to say to Allen to ‘see harder’. Was she saying that because of his aura? Was she another of those magical beings? 

“Katerina, have you seen Allen?” he asked. The woman looked up at him and smiled peacefully. 

“I believe he went to the field. He should be around Cornelia,” said the woman. Lavi smiled at her. 

“Thank you… Ah, and thank you for yesterday,” he said as an afterthought. Katerina chuckled. “Are you one of those… Magical beings?”

“I am,” she said and turned back to her papers. “You should go find Allen and start figuring things out. You must miss home.”

Lavi smiled again, a real and gentle smile, and walked to the front door. Home for him wasn’t his apartment exactly, he actually missed the house he had shared with his grandpa, filled with books and silence. His apartment had been a new start for him, but he would always call that house his home. 

He crossed the wheat field with some difficulty, as he tripped over branches he couldn’t see. He caught the white flash of his friends hair and he smiled. He sighed when he finally reached the small clearing where the tree was. 

“Good morning,” he exclaimed. Allen jumped a little, but turned to him with a soft smile. 

“Good morning, are you ready to start working again?” he asked. Lavi growled. 

“More or less? I mean, I wanna go out, but… “ he started, but he couldn’t find a word to summarize all he was feeling. Allen hummed. 

“You’re apprehensive. You don’t know what to expect but you know you have to find out to escape this place,” he explained. Lavi wasn’t even surprised. Allen was great at figuring out how he thought or felt. Lavi was usually really good at masking his emotions, but Allen somehow was able to read him like a book. Lavi was starting to think that he was that good because he too masked his emotions. Weren’t they fucked up? 

“Exactly,” he concluded lamely. Allen huffed softly and looked back at the horizon. 

Lavi admitted that the sight from there was amazing. Golden wheat, lively green trees and a blue sky. There were some grey clouds, though, it would probably rain. 

“Then, we could climb Cornelia,” said Allen with a wide smile. It was kind of childish. Lavi blinked at him and then shrugged. 

“Okay, why not?” he said and he stared as Allen took hold of two branches and dug his heels on the trunk without any problems, before starting to climb. “You know, it’s kind of weird to climb it when it has a name. Like, ‘hey yeah let’s climb John’. Don’t you think? Anyway, why is it called Cornelia?”

Lavi tried to grab the same branches as Allen, but he thought that they were too thin and they wouldn’t hold his weight. He grabbed two others and he grunted when he heaved himself up on a lower branch. 

“I don’t know, when I came here, Nea said that the tree’s name was Cornelia. And that was it. No explanation. ” Allen shrugged. Lavi frowned when he saw that he was already seated on a high branch, looking straight at a grey cloud with thoughtful eyes. “I guess it’s kind of a family thing? But don’t take me on that.”

Lavi hummed and then it changed into a growl when he climbed another branch. Allen grabbed the back of his borrowed shirt and helped him onto another branch. 

They spent some minutes staring at the golden landscape, the wind messing their hair and clothes. Lavi tapped his fingers on his leg and looked at Allen. 

“Can’t my aura tell you what am I?” he asked. Allen scrunched up his nose. 

“Not really. Auras are usually a color that represents their owner,” Allen grinned. “I suppose yours is fitting. Orange is a flashy color.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” mumbled Lavi. The mission was going to be harder than he thought then. Allen sniffed the air and sighed. 

“We should head back. It’s gonna rain soon,” he said and he started climbing down. Lavi looked around, confused as to where to start going down. Allen huffed. “Too soon.”

Lavi had just touched the ground with his foot when the first few drops of icy water started falling. Allen and Lavi started running towards the mansion, but, by the time they got to the front door, they were already soaked. 

“Running through the wheat hurts,” complained Lavi between his ragged breathing. Allen locked the door and looked through the curtains. The rain was pouring down on the wheat and it swayed from side to side furiously. 

“It doesn’t hurt that bad, don’t exaggerate,” he replied and ran a hand through his wet hair. “We should dry out and change clothes before going to the library.”

“Yeah,” agreed Lavi, picking his sticky shirt off his body. He let go and it fell again against his torso with a wet thud. He grunted.

They moved quickly to the bathroom after picking up a change of clothes from their rooms. Lavi had some spare clothes that Katerina had laying around, so he had no problem. Allen was already with his new long-sleeved shirt on and drying his hair when he arrived at the bathroom. 

Lavi stole a glance at his tattooed hand. He didn’t know those symbols, but they were elegant traces on his skin. They sometimes resembled letters he knew or symbols from other cultures. It was interesting, but he averted his eyes when Allen turned again to put the towel away. 

“I should drag my grandpa here,” he said when they got to the library. Allen laughed. “With all these books, he would be off my back for  _ years _ .”

“Does he have the same fascination with books as you?” asked the white-haired teen. Lavi grinned.

“He’s an historian,” he explained. Allen turned to him with a surprised expression. “I’m studying History as well. I’ll probably follow his footsteps.”

“If you really like it, I don’t see why not.” Allen shrugged and scanned the shelves filled with books. Lavi waited, reading some of the titles. Some of them were normal novels, but some of them had strange names like ‘The full encyclopedia of magic races’ and ‘More than 100 potions’. Allen reached out for the first one.”We should search for a magic being that was similar to how you are in terms of personality. Some magic beings are really obvious, because they are a mix of human and something else. But others don’t have an actual type. I personally think that you’re one of the later.”

Lavi listened, focused. He took some books from Allen’s arms and he left them around the sofa. He felt oddly comforted by Allen’s words. He was already shaken by the whole situation and he didn’t want to find out he was some kind of hybrid. 

Allen took out around 10 books that listed different magic races. Lavi sat down heavily on the sofa with a sigh. His host followed him and sat next to him. He was already looking through a book with his white eyebrows knitted together. Lavi still didn’t know why his hair was white. He didn’t know a lot of things about his new friend. But he felt as if it was best that he didn’t know.

“You’re not a ghost, right?” asked Allen with a smirk. Lavi arched an eyebrow, even if it wasn’t really noticeable with his eyepatch. 

“I don’t think so,” he answered. Allen chuckled. 

“We should do a list and we’ll see how it goes,” he said. Lavi took the book when the boy stood up to search paper. 

There were detailed descriptions of the magic beings’ abilities, where they lived, their general appearance when they weren’t hiding under glamours and their general personalities. The pages were old and they rustled when Lavi turned them. 

The redhead felt strange. He still had a hard time believing that he was one of them. He had even doubted what Allen saw the other night. Lavi himself had only been able to see the orange aura when he was drunk. He bit his lip when he realised that he was suspicious of Allen. Allen, the white-haired enigma that offered his help without asking for anything in return and explained everything that he needed to know to escape that place.

“I got paper and I managed to find a pen under all the rubbish my uncle has in his desk’s drawers,” said Allen, walking calmly to the sofa. Lavi closed the book to hide his jump and he smiled maybe a little too wide for it to be real. Allen must have noticed it, but if he did, he didn’t say anything.

“Which ones should we write down?” asked Lavi. Allen hummed and drummed the pen on the hard cover of one of the books. 

“We’ll write the humanoid ones down,” he decided and he started writing some names. “If those ones fail, we would have to search through the hybrids.” Allen must had seen his worried face, because he smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I’m of the firm believe that you’re one of the humanoid ones. You would have noticed something was off if you were a hybrid.”

Lavi nodded slowly and peeked over Allen’s shoulder as he wrote from memory some of the most known magic beings. Vampire, merman, werewolf, fairy, elf, harpy, tengu (Lavi noticed how his fingers were too tight when writing that one and he wondered what had happened) and other japanese beings that even Lavi didn’t know about. He noticed with some surprise that Allen’s handwriting was quick and simple, but still elegant. It reminded Lavi of a boss’s handwriting. Then he remembered that Allen was the patriarch of the family. He supposed it was logical that he was in that position, if his father had died. 

“I think we should try these out,” said Allen when he straightened his back. Lavi tilted his head and fidgeted nervously. His grin wavered.

“Try them out? How?” he asked with a trembling voice. Allen grinned at him, but then he softened it when he realised just how uneasy his friend was. 

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing too dangerous,” he reassured him. He put one hand on his shoulder when he stood up again. “C’mon, aren’t you curious?”

Yes, but he was more afraid than anything. Lavi climbed to his feet and maneuvered his trembling legs so that he could keep up with his host. He furrowed his brow when he saw that they were headed for the kitchen. 

Allen had entered the room before him and he was already searching through the drawers. The paper was on top of the table and the rain knocked loudly against the glass of the windows. Allen had switched on the light and the kitchen was bathed in a warm yellow tint. Lavi sat on one of the chairs, looking around while Allen searched for whatever he needed. Lavi swallowed when Allen returned to him with a knife. 

“Allen, what the hell?!” he screeched and he nearly fell on the floor when he knocked his chair down. The white-haired boy chuckled, but Lavi didn’t see the funny aspect of the situation. “Allen, seriously, what the fuck?”

“Calm down, I’m not going to do anything to you,” he said with a serene voice, gaze and stance. Lavi forced his shoulders to relax, but he didn’t come any closer to the boy. 

To his surprise and horror, Allen ran the cutting edge through his palm. Blood trickled down his right hand and the blade. Lavi was about to shout again, run down to the boy and call him an idiot while he bandaged the injury. But Allen just smiled and reached out to him with his bloodied hand. Lavi took another step backwards.

“Allen, what…?” he started but then he just swallowed. His vision was spinning. Oh, he had never liked seeing blood in person and there was so much of it, what was Allen doing? Was he crazy? He sat down on another chair and closed his eye. “Ugh, I don’t like blood…”

“Okay, so you’re not a vampire, alright,” said the faint voice of Allen. Lavi immediately raised his head, a bad move, because his vision spun again. 

“You only did this just to prove if I was a vampire?!” he asked. Allen nodded from his seat on the countertop. He had wrapped a hand towel around his hand and it was already partially red from the blood. Lavi had to look away. 

“Of course. It wouldn’t have worked if I just asked you if you liked blood,” asked Allen. Lavi rolled his eye. 

“Still! Did you have to cut open your hand?” asked Lavi. He was still looking away from his friend, but he could feel his smile. 

“Stop being such a drama queen, will you? It hasn’t been that bad,” laughed the boy. He walked closer to Lavi, but the redhead refused to look at his bleeding hand, even if it was a good opportunity to see the tattooed one up close. “It has been deep enough to draw a decent amount of blood, but not enough to be a problem. So calm down.”

“Ugh, don’t explain to me the depth of your cut, please,” said Lavi and closed his eye for a second. “Really, you could have been seriously hurt, Allen.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve had worse,” murmured Allen. Lavi frowned and looked at him when he noticed the sad, but angry, tone of his normally serene voice. “ _ Much _ worse.”

Allen passed by him and walked out the door. Lavi supposed he was going to the bathroom to dress his wound, so he waited there, messing up his hair and trying not to worry about him, this time not because of his injury but because of the hurt in his voice. He knew that the boy’s past wasn’t the best, and that single statement alone was enough to confirm that. Lavi decided not to pry, remembering how sometimes his eyes looked far too old for someone his age.

He didn’t think that blood was gross, and it wasn’t that he feared that someone would be really hurt if there was blood. It was just… He knew the feeling of blood on his hand, the lightheadedness that came from bloodloss. 

“Okay, so you’re not a vampire, and you’re not a merman either,” said Allen when he came back to the kitchen. Lavi looked at him through his fingers and relaxed when he saw that his hand was wrapped in clean bandages. “Merpeople change forms when they get soaked.”

Lavi nodded lightly and sighed. He reached out for the paper and pen and crossed out the two names. They still had quite a lot of them to try out. 

“Let’s go to the living room, I think I have a good idea to see if you have wings,” said Allen and gestured for Lavi to follow him. He sighed and stood up before walking along with him. 

“You know, I’m starting to question your ‘good ideas’, Al,” said the redhead. He looked from the corner of his eye to Allen, who looked offended, but his soft smile gave it away. 

“This one’s good enough,” huffed the boy. 

“Yeah, right,” replied Lavi. Allen stuck out his tongue at him.

They walked into the living room, where Katerina was still looking through some papers. She sometimes wrote something on them, but other times she just tossed them into a waste basket. Allen greeted her with a smile and Katerina waved back at him. The boy dragged Lavi to some shelves.

“Ah, yeah, Grandma Kate, we need Timcanpy,” called Allen. The woman paused and then she shrugged. 

“He should be running around the field still. You know how that dog is,” said Katerina. Allen hummed. Lavi blinked. They had a dog? They had a dog  _ and they never mentioned it to him _ ? Wow, rude. 

“Okay, Lavi, I need your phone,” said Allen with a blinding smile. Lavi looked at him as if he had sprouted two heads. “Don’t look at me like that, just give it to me.”

Lavi frowned, but searched through his jacket’s pocket and gave his phone to his newest friend. The boy looked at it for a moment. And then he threw it. Lavi gasped and made a move to catch it, but he knew it wasn’t worth it. The phone landed on the highest shelf with a loud thud. The redhead turned to his companion. 

“What was that for?” he snapped. Allen just continued smiling at him. 

“You have to get it from up there,” he explained and pointed at the shelf. “And you can’t climb, by the way.”

“I hate you,” growled Lavi and glared at the white-haired boy. 

He sighed and looked straight at the phone peeking through the border of the shelf. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Well, he knew that the idea of that trial was to prove that he had wings. So, maybe, if he thought that he had wings and that he could fly, he could gain some wings? Somehow? He tried anyway. He imagined himself with some big wings, he pictured himself beating his wings and flying and getting back his phone. It didn’t work.

“Okay, then, you don’t have wings,” said Allen and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Lavi jumped. He focused his eye on his companion as he walked over to the table and crossed  _ a lot _ of names on the list. Wings were quite common, it seemed.

“This is good and all, but,” started Lavi. Allen looked back at him. “How do I get my phone back?” 

“You could climb,” offered Allen with a grin. Lavi rolled his eye. The boy walked back to his side, kicked the lower part of the shelves and extended his tattooed hand. The piece of furniture shook and the phone fell onto his hand. Lavi stared. “Or, you could’ve done this.”

Allen gave his phone back to him and said bye to Katerina. Lavi said goodbye to the woman as well, before hurrying to follow his host. He noticed that the rain had died down at that point. The wheat was wet and he imagined that the ground was muddy. He hoped that the mansion didn’t have any leaks. Knowing its owners, it was highly unlikely. 

The white-haired teen led them to the front door again, searched around a nearby drawer for something and opened the door. Lavi tried to steal a look at what his non-injured hand had, but he wasn’t able to. He kept the door open, because he didn’t think that Allen had any keys with him and he didn’t really want to stay out of the warm mansion and in the bitter cold of january in only a jacket. 

“I’m going to call Tim back,” explained Allen and neared the object to his lips. Lavi finally saw that it was a small and golden whistle. 

“About that,” Lavi broke off as his friend blew the whistle and a clean and loud sound echoed through the field. “How could you not have told me that you had a dog?! I thought that we were friends, dude, friends tell each other if they have pets! Specially dogs!”

“I guess I forgot,” said Allen simply. He looked around the surroundings, before blowing the whistle again. “Timcampy usually likes to run around this immense field for days straight. At first, we were worried because we thought that he had gotten lost. But now, we just leave him some food at the kitchen and we leave the back door open. I just hope he managed to find some shelter while it rained.”

After the third whistle, Lavi caught some movement some meters away. Something was moving rapidly through the wheat. He assumed it was the dog. He wondered what kind of dog he was. 

In no time, a dog broke through the wheat and ran up the stairs, panting. He jumped on Allen, barking and pawing at his abdomen with his muddy front paws. Lavi finally realised that it was a golden colored dog, with long hair and lively blue eyes. 

“Okay, so, Lavi, this is Timcampy,” introduced Allen with a cheerful smile. The dog barked and ran to him, nearly knocking him over. Lavi smiled widely and petted him heartily. 

“What breed is he?” he asked when he managed to separate the effusive dog from him with his freckled hands. Allen hummed and took Tim’s collar to steer him into the house.

“I think they said that he was a  [ Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever ](http://www.dogbreedslist.info/all-dog-breeds/Tolling-Retriever.html#.WWIWxITyi00) ,” he said finally. 

“That’s a long name,” he commented, but helped his friend to keep the dog more or less calm to guide him to the bathroom and bathe him. 

Together they managed to get the dog in the bathtub and wash off all the grime and mud out of his golden hair between yelps and laughs. After that, they had to change their own clothes, because they were soaked and covered in the same mud the dog had had on him. Allen managed to keep the dog from going away, instead guiding him to the dining room, where they were going to have lunch. Lavi himself had to act fast when the lively dog managed to escape his owner’s alert gaze and dashed to the door. It was stressful, but still fun in its own way. 

“I see you have managed to get Tim,” commented Katerina from the doorway. Allen laughed nervously while Lavi  _ tried _ to get the dog to sit. 

“Yeah, he’s as lively as ever,” he replied and moved to help Lavi with the dog. Both of them shoved the dog on the floor with their hands touching, which made Lavi quite flustered and he didn’t even know  _ why _ . He reasoned with himself that it was because Allen had finally trusted him enough to touch him with his tattooed hand, but he wasn’t that sure.

“So, how is the search going?” asked Katerina while they ate. Allen smiled widely. 

“Lavi isn’t a winged being, so that makes it easier,” he answered. Timcampy barked and Lavi jumped. “He isn’t a merman either, he doesn’t change forms.”

“If he isn’t a winged type, then you have less options,” hummed Katerina. 

“Yeah, I think we’re really close.” Allen smiled with such excitement that Lavi concluded that the mysterious boy could not be anything other than an ally. 

And yeah, Lavi really hoped they were closer to the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chap was supposed to be longer... haha. Tim will only be a dog this time (the link shows his breed), a hyper-active dog, but just a dog. Next week I won't post a new chap, because I'm going to the beach and I still have to think of something for Laven Week. Eh-sorry, you'll have to wait to know what Lavi is.  
> So... Kudos for the soul?


	5. Fire of the Phoenix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Lavi sets the curtains on fire.

When they finished lunch and they helped Katerina to clean up the dishes, they sat down on the stairs just in front of the front door with Timcampy. Lavi always felt intimidated by the gorgeous entrance of the mansion. The red carpets, the expensive furniture, the white marble stairs, the tall windows with their red curtains and the golden ornaments made him think that he was in some kind of event planned for the rich and famous people. It was no place for a university student. 

“Okay, Lavi,” called Allen. He was petting Tim and trying to prevent his escape. Fortunately, the ginger dog was cooperative faced with the prospect of something to do. “I need you to try to communicate with Tim.”

Lavi blinked.

“Are you serious?” he asked, because if he was, he was going to start worrying about his host’s sanity. 

“Of course I’m serious,” grumbled Allen and his smile disappeared in an instant. He pointed to his dog, which was focused on the redhead. “We need to know if you’re a werewolf. Werewolves communicate with canines. That includes dogs.”

“Yeah, well, werewolves change forms when there’s a full moon, don’t they?” replied Lavi. He looked at Tim, then back at Allen. He arched an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure I don’t change into a giant furry at the full moon.”

“First of all, you wouldn’t change into a giant furry, you would just be a big wolf. And second, we need to be sure. So just do it,” explained Allen. Lavi sighed heavily, but focused on the dog when he saw the glare his friend was sending at him. 

Lavi frowned. What was he even supposed to do to communicate with the dog? Talk? Maybe bark? 

He did just that, looking straight at the dogs blue eyes and feeling more stupid than usual. He heard Allen’s chuckle and he turned to him with an ‘i-told-you-so’ stare. 

“Okay, no werewolf,” concluded Allen and took out the list from his black pants’ pocket to cross out the name. “You know, there aren’t really that many more.” 

“That’s good, right?” said Lavi, but doubts still racked his brain. What if he wasn’t a magic being and his mission was another one and they were just losing time? 

“It is,” said Allen and his firm voice helped Lavi to remain focused and not panic. “c’mon, we're going back to the field.”

Lavi didn’t have any say in the matter, so he just followed the boy through the back door and further to the left. The green vines hugged the back of the building, around the windows and over the roof. Allen led them towards the wall and Lavi somehow expected a secret door that led into a cool basement where they were going to solve the problem. But Allen just plopped down on the ground with a sigh, on top of some dead leaves. He looked expectantly at Lavi. 

“Do I have to sit down on the muddy ground?“ asked Lavi and pointed to the mud. Allen rolled his eyes. 

“No, you sit on the  _ leaves _ , Lavi,” he said. Lavi grunted, but he sat down next to him. “Now, relax… And meditate. Feel the nature.”

“Feel the nature? What are you-?” Lavi interrupted himself when he saw the impatient glare that Allen was directing at him. “Okay, I’ll ‘feel the nature’. “

They spent there some minutes that could have been more than that, but Lavi wasn’t sure. He tried to meditate, and he thought he managed to do it sometimes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t ‘feel the nature’. He moved around a little and debated in his head if it was a good idea to open his eye. 

“Uh, Allen, I can’t really ‘feel the nature’,” he said. He finally opened his eye and looked at his companion. “The only thing I can feel is how my butt aches. ”

Allen hummed and stood up instantly. Lavi looked at him, confused. Was it another trial? Timcampy wasn’t around anymore, so he must have ran off again. 

“So you’re not a fairy, nor an elf,” mumbled Allen while he crossed the names. He used the wall as a support for the paper. “Uh, we’re getting out of ideas already.” 

Lavi felt a stab of worry in his stomach. Did that mean that he was an hybrid then? Or that he wasn’t a magic being? Was he not going to be able to leave that mansion? 

Allen called out for Tim and the dog came back running and barking happily. Lavi followed the pair to the house again, silent and apprehensive. When they were inside, Allen slowed down until he was at his side again. Tim ran around the front, sniffing every object he saw. 

“Are you okay, Lavi?” he asked and touched carefully his arm with his injured hand. Lavi tried to smile, but he knew it just looked forced. He grinned, anyway. 

“Yeah, I think I’m just tired,” he answered. Allen looked unconvinced. “Really, I think I’m still worried and nervous about all this. Too many emotions for such a short time.”

Allen hummed and let go of his arm slowly. He stared at him for another while, but he turned back to the corridor. 

“Maybe we should leave it here for today,” he said. Lavi looked at him, somewhat surprised. “Tomorrow we’ll try the other races. Hopefully you’ll be one of them.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” repeated Lavi and walked side by side with the white-haired boy. 

They reached the living room and they discussed if they should see a movie or just watch TV. They decided they were too lazy and just switched channels until they saw something interesting. Timcampy ran out the door, but neither of the two made any movement to stop him. They just looked at the door for a moment, before focusing back on the TV. 

Lavi sighed and readjusted his blanket over his legs. He was sleepy, even if they hadn’t had dinner yet. He thought about having a nap, but it was too late for that. He stretched his legs on the sofa and accidentally kicked Allen on the shin. The white-haired boy immediately raised his head and looked at him with surprise, but then he just shook his head and returned to his previous position laying on the sofa with his head on a cushion. Lavi mumbled an apology and fidgeted with the edge of the blanket. 

It reminded him of the times with his friends. When they were on high school, they always had movie nights on saturdays. They usually went to Kanda’s house, because it was more spacious than the others and Tiedoll usually left them alone. Lavi smiled lightly. At that time, they were all together. He missed that feeling. They were too busy to keep doing those movie nights, they usually just saw each other around campus and some nights they went out. Maybe, Lavi thought, things would be different if he had a roommate. He looked over at Allen. 

It was weird, they had only known each other for five days, but they interacted like they had been friends for years. The redhead remembered a psychology article which said that people who live stressful situations together tend to bond faster with each other. Lavi had laughed at it, but now he found it reasonable. Over those days, he had been nervous and worried. When he thought about it, he was really thankful that Allen had offered his help. He couldn’t have made it without him. 

They had left the door ajar, so when a body crashed into it, the door collided with the wall. Allen jumped and looked around with a frown, but Lavi, who had been lost in his thoughts, had a more violent reaction. 

The redhead moved his hand up and yelped. Then he hissed when heat assaulted his skin. He moved his hand again so he could look at it but, by that point, the sensation was gone. He frowned. Then he smelled something burning. 

“Oh wow,” said Allen in a breathy whisper. Lavi followed his gaze and gasped. The curtains were on fire. The curtains were  _ on fire _ . Lavi didn’t think that a ‘oh wow’ was a good thing to say in that situation. 

“Holy shit, we need to do something!” shouted Lavi and got up from the sofa, but he forgot he had been covered by a blanket and he fell on the floor with a loud thud. “How the hell did the curtains catch on fire?!”

Lavi tried to get out from under the blanket faster, but his hands trembled too much. He looked over at Allen, who had stood up calmly. He took a vase, put the flowers on top of the table and threw the water to the fire. Then Lavi witnessed the first magic act of his life when his host raised his tattooed hand, pointed his palm at the fire and clenched his fist in the air. Lavi’s only eye widened when he saw how the water surrendered the fire, defying gravity, until it put the fire down. 

“I think I know what you are, Lavi,” called Allen and turned around at him. He was smiling and Lavi looked over at the curtain again. It was blackened where the fire had been. He sat on the floor, confused. Was the fire… his doing? 

“What do you mean?” he asked. For one moment, he felt like he was in one of those dreams, but he couldn’t see his orange aura and he wasn’t covered in that fire. “What caused that fire?”

“It was you,” laughed Allen. He left the vase on the table again and he walked closer to him. He was grinning. “You’re a wizard, Lavi.”

He thought briefly about the same phrase in Harry Potter, but he was too in shock and Timcampy had appeared at his side and he laid down next to him, supporting his head on the redhead’s lap and panting. Through the haze of his mind, he could deduce that what had crashed into the door had been the dog. But the majority of his thoughts were on that revelation. He was a wizard. He was a magic being. He had magic. He was special. His life… he had lived without knowing he was a wizard. He had been that afraid of his orange aura for nothing. 

“Lavi?” called Allen. He crouched next to him and rested his tattooed hand on his shoulder. Maybe it was because his head was a mess, but Lavi could swear that the red markings on his skin  _ moved _ . 

“I’m okay, it’s just…” said Lavi, but his voice broke. He finally processed what had happened. He was going back, back to his apartment, back to his friends, back to studying History. Only, this time, he felt like someone different. 

“You’re going back, Lavi,” said Allen with a soft smile. Lavi looked at him, then accepted his hand to stand up. The white-haired boy quickly took it away and the redhead needed some seconds to comprehend that it had been his left hand. Allen mumbled something to Timcampy and the dog trotted off. Probably in search of Katerina. 

“How can you know if I’m a wizard and not some kind of… phoenix?” asked Lavi and he collapsed on the sofa again. Allen put back the flowers in the vase.

“Your flames look like ones of a Phoenix, yes,” said the boy. He sat down next to Lavi with a serene smile. Lavi felt a pang of worry. “But your hand didn’t caught completely on fire. Phoenix hybrids usually burn their clothes when using their powers because they lose control over their flames too easily. Wizards, on the other hand,  _ create _ flames from the environment and don’t just free them from themselves. That’s what a wizard does, basically. They use the resources they have around, control them and sometimes, if they are good enough, they can change them into something else.”

“So, wizards manipulate, hybrids’ powers are a part of themselves,” said Lavi. His head was starting to clear. He looked at his hands. “This is not the first time I’ve done that when I was scared. Why is it that only now did I burn something?”

“It could be because the mansion is surrounded by magic.” Allen shrugged. “A wizard’s magic flows better when their surroundings are influenced by magic. Well, any magic, actually.”

“I see…” mumbled Lavi. “So, that means I can finally go back home, right?”

“It should be enough,” laughed Allen. He stood up before Lavi could see his expression. “We’ll go to Cornelia tomorrow. You should sleep, you look awful.”

“Deja Vu from the first night?” asked Lavi while he stood up from the sofa. Allen had gone ahead to the doorway, probably to go to Katerina as well. The patriarch arched one eyebrow at him, but then he smirked.

“Maybe,” he said, and he disappeared down the corridor. 

Lavi remembered the way to his room, so he walked there. He was extremely careful of his hands, afraid of burning something else. His exhaustion was clear and he stumbled a few times over his own feet, but he managed to get to his room with a big smile. He was going back to his old life… more or less. 

He felt different, but he supposed it was because of the new knowledge he had about himself. He was at least glad that he wasn’t a hybrid. He trusted Allen’s judgement for things related to magic. He wondered how he was going to master his powers. He didn’t want to get caught, because it would probably be bad for him, and it would be a hassle to burn everything. He wondered if his powers were limited to fire. Allen had said that wizards used the environment, so, did that mean that Lavi could control water as well? He remembered Allen manipulating the water to put out the fire. He paused in the middle of his room.

The next day he was going back. He was going back to his old life, studying History, doing exams and going out with friends. Allen, his new friend, was going to stay behind at the mansion. Maybe he could visit him when he had holidays, but… 

The last thought he had before falling asleep was how much he was going to miss bickering with the white-haired boy.

* * *

 

Lavi woke up with a yelp and he nearly fell off the bed. He could hear loud barks around him and a soft laugh that was vaguely familiar. The redhead finally managed to find the dog and he panted while trying to keep it still. The big mass of golden fur that was Timcampy wiggled around and he jumped off from the bed before running off into the corridor. 

“That was a pleasant wake up call, wasn’t it?” chuckled the voice from the door. Lavi huffed and glared halfheartedly to his host. His heart sent a stab of pain when he remember that he wasn’t going to be able to see that placid smile and sorrowful grey eyes in a long time. Because he  _ refused _ to not see him again.

“Yeah, right,” growled Lavi and stood up. He stretched his arms above his head. He was really hungry. He remembered that he had gone to bed without having anything for dinner. He had too many emotions running through his head to care about food. He regretted his decision, but he could only change clothes quickly so that they could go have breakfast. 

“Today is the big day,” reminded Allen from the door. The redhead paused when buttoning his shirt. He bit his lip.

“Yeah, about that… I’m really going to miss you, buddy,” said Lavi. He continued buttoning his shirt and kept his head down. Allen hummed. 

“You know, if that offer still stands…” Lavi raised his head so fast that his vision span for a moment. “I could go with you.”

“What? That time… were you serious?” asked Lavi with wide and hopeful eyes. Allen must have seen the emotion in his eye, but Lavi couldn’t bring himself to care. He noticed his change of clothes, which were different from the comfy and baggy clothes he had been wearing during those days. Maroon skinny jeans, black t-shirt and military boots. He was different in Lavi’s eye, but a good kind of different at least. 

“Well, Mr. Amateur Wizard, someone has to teach you how to use your newly awakened powers, right?” said Allen with a wide smile. He crossed his arms. “Plus, I need to find my uncle and he usually comes to the city. I think it’s a win-win situation.”

“Then… I suppose we have a deal?” asked the redhead, trying not to smile too wide. He held out his hand, the left one, and his smile grew a bit more when Allen took it after brief hesitation. The tattoos created lumps in his skin and seemed to shine under the morning sun. 

“Deal,” smiled Allen. They let go and the redhead was oddly proud that his companion didn’t hide his left hand again. 

Lavi collected everything and they set off to the dining room to have breakfast. It was weird, but the student couldn’t stop grinning. And every time he looked over at his friend and new roommate, his smile grew even larger. It was starting to hurt, but he didn’t care. 

“Ah, yeah, I’m so sorry about the curtains,” said Lavi as soon as he saw Katerina. The woman raised her head from her coffee and smiled peacefully. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’m glad you found out what you are, Lavi,” she said. They took their seat at the table. Lavi frowned and Allen chuckled.

“Really, don’t worry about the curtains,” he reassured, but Lavi didn’t want to back down.

“But they looked so expensive!” he said and glared at Allen and his smile. “I bet they are a family heirloom.”

“They are,” agreed Allen easily enough. Lavi raised his arms and frowned, but the white-haired heir raised his hand to stop him from saying anything more. “But it’s okay, Grandma Kate fixed them in twenty seconds.”

“Uh?” Lavi blinked. _ ‘Ah, right, magical world.’ _ . “Ah, yeah, you were a magic being too.”

“An elf, to be more specific,” replied the woman. Lavi blinked and, in the next second, Katerina had pointed ears and her bright blue eyes had cat-like pupils. “It’s really easy to repair things with my powers.”

“Ah, that reminds me…” exclaimed Lavi. He looked reproachfully at Allen and the boy smiled ruefully. “You said that only magical people can see auras… you didn’t tell me what you are, Al.

Allen laughed nervously, but Lavi crossed his arms. He looked at Katerina from the corner of his eye and he deflated. The woman was looking worriedly at his grandson, hands folded on the table and brow furrowed. Then the redhead took in the hunched shoulders and lowered gaze of his friend and decided not to pry too much. 

“I think I’ll let you overheat your brain thinking about it,” said Allen with a small smile. Lavi frowned at the sad and pained shine of his eyes, but quickly swallowed his coffee so they could go out and forget his question for the better. 

They finished quickly and they headed to Allen’s room so he could pack what he would need to move to Lavi’s apartment. The redhead sat on the bed, looking around while his white-haired friend packed. The room wasn’t that different from his, but it had more books on the shelves, some souvenirs from all around the world, clothes thrown on the chair, papers that looked official, some dog toys and a well cared for stereo. He wondered if they could take Tim with them. 

“Hey, Al, do we take Tim with us?” asked Lavi when Allen emerged from the private bathroom of his room carrying a hairbrush, toothbrush and cologne. He paused. 

“I… think we could,” he said slowly. He dumped his things in a spacious bag that had a few clothes already.” I mean, Tim is a really energetic dog as you can see, but I think that if we take him out three times a day and let him run around, he will probably be okay.”

Llavi paused and moved a brightly colored dog toy around his palm. 

"Won't your grandma feel... lonely or something?" he asked finally in a small voice. He was really glad that Allen was going to move with him, but he didn't want to rip him from his family. Allen paused and his shoulders fell, before his usual graceful posture returned within seconds.

"She'll be okay," he said and turned his head to give Lavi a reassuring smile. "Our family is big, we have visits all the time."

"Is that so?" Lavi raised his only visible eyebrow, so it looked like he was surprised. "Then why haven't I seen anybody?"

Allen just shrugged, but his silver eyes were shining with amusement. 

Lavi helped Allen to search for the charger of his phone when the boy nearly destroyed the drawer in which he was searching and a lost earring which they later found under the desk. Allen checked that everything he needed was there, before zipping the bag up, putting a black leather jacket on and and slinging the bag over his shoulder. It was similar to Lavi’s, but Lavi’s own jacket had a lot more belts. Daysia had laughed about them because he found the amount of belts ridiculous. It really wasn’t  _ that _ bad. 

“Be careful, think before doing some crazy stunt and don’t get into too many fights,” advised Katerina when they got to the front door. Lavi looked confused at the ‘fights’ part and stared at Allen. Was he like Kanda after all? He didn’t look like it, though.

“Grandma,” sighed Allen and rolled his eyes, but he smiled nonetheless. “I’ll be okay.  Don’t worry about me. I’ll talk with Nea.”

Katerina nodded, adjusted the collar of his black jacket and moved to Lavi. Timcampy barked at his feet, impatiently pawing at the carpet. Lavi shoved him carefully with his foot to stop him. 

“Look after him, Lavi, he can be quite reckless sometimes,” requested the woman. Allen huffed behind her. The redhead just grinned and nodded. “And be careful too, the magic world is not the safest.” 

Katerina let them go and watched them walk away into the wheat field. They waved back at her and promised to come visit sometime, to which she only smiled and nodded vigorously, with a weird nostalgic shine in her blue eyes that Lavi couldn't place. Allen led the path to Cornelia, pointing out when there was a lump or hole on the ground. Tim followed them, panting and wagging his tail. 

Lavi looked at the back of his friend’s head, frowning. He remembered the expression he’d had at breakfast. The white-haired heir had looked...  vulnerable. Even scared. The worrying thing was that Lavi didn’t know if it was of him or something else. He didn’t want to see him like that ever again. But he couldn’t help but to wonder. Was he one of those hybrids? Was his real form that grotesque and horrible that he couldn’t bring himself to show it? Did he have some bad experience with it?

“Okay, here we are,” said Allen. Lavi blinked. They were just in front of Cornelia. “Just say that you know you’re a wizard.”

“Ah, right.” Lavi stepped forward and placed a hand on the trunk of the ancient tree. He could feel warmth on his hand. ‘Right, magic tree.’ “Okay, so, Cornelia, darlin', I know I’m a wizard, can I leave this place already?”

Lavi grinned when he heard Allen’s laugh. Then his friend grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him backwards until he was further away from the tree. Lavi soon realized why. A golden and silver light started to flow through the tree’s branches and trunk, as if it was its salvia, from its roots until its branches, where it cascaded down towards the ground. Lavi gasped when Allen pointed to the clear blue sky. The same gold and silver light seemed to fall like translucent curtains hanged in the middle of the air. They parted, creating a path to follow, away from the mansion. 

“This is it,” said Allen and he walked until he was side by side with Lavi. They both looked up at the shiny curtains. “Ready to go back home and study?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” growled Lavi. Timcampy barked and ran down the hill, wagging his tail and getting lost in the tall wheat. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Don’t worry, I have his whistle,” reassured Allen and took said object in his non-injured hand. Lavi nodded. Then he took a deep breath. His white-haired friend looked at him with a soft smile. “Shall we go?”

“Let’s go,” agreed Lavi after a long sigh.

They walked under the curtains carefully. Lavi almost expected to feel the gold and silver falling on him like glitter, but it remained in the air, shimmering and fluttering. When they stopped at the other side, the gold and silver curtains closed slowly, until there was not a single trace of them. Lavi lowered his gaze and whistled when all he could see was wheat. No sign of the immense mansion. 

Lavi jumped when Allen blew the whistle. Timcampy came running back and he jumped around his owner, who tried to keep him calm so he could put a collar and leash to him. The redheaded wizard helped his friend to sit the dog in the middle of the wheat and he tried to keep him still while the boy tied the blue collar around his neck. 

They walked through the wheat until they emerged in the same path that Lavi had walked along six days before. It was nostalgic, even when it hadn’t been that long ago. A lot of things had changed. 

The trip was long. Lavi offered to take the heavy bag on Allen’s shoulder multiple times, but the boy refused with a smile. The redhead supposed it was the amount of food which gave him that strength. Timcampy sniffed the ground at their feet, wagging his tail and looking around from time to time. They hadn’t tied him with the leash yet, but the dog seemed to be tranquil for the moment. 

When they got to the city, Lavi texted Lena, but he requested that she not go to his apartment yet. They had to get Allen settled in. He didn’t say that, though, he just said that he had a new roommate. 

Lavi’s apartment wasn’t as far as the others’. They reached his street some minutes after reaching the city. Allen had tied Tim with the matching blue leash and he had given it to Lavi, as he still had his bothersome bag at his shoulder. People of the city were used to students coming and going, so they didn't stare too much at them. Lavi could see them looking at Allen's hair, though, and he managed to glare into submission to some rude teenagers that made a move towards them.

“Well, this is my cursed apartment. I hope it doesn’t let you leave either. See how you like it,” said Lavi while unlocking the door. He lived in a 5th floor, but he was one of the lucky people in the neighborhood whose building had an elevator. 

Allen laughed and followed him inside. Lavi felt a little flustered. His apartment was cluttered with books, papers and food wrappings, not to mention it wasn’t as intimidating as the huge mansion of his companion. The entrance’s only piece of furniture was a low wood table on which he placed his keys. 

“It’s quite cozy,” commented Allen. Lavi hurried after him, following him to the left of the entrance and into the spacious living room and dining room. Timcampy had ran to the sofa as soon as Allen had untied his leash. The boy looked at Lavi ruefully. “Sorry. You know how he is.”

“It’s okay, like you said, I know how he is,” laughed Lavi. He slung his arm on Allen’s shoulders. “Okay then, new roommate, let me guide you to your new room.”

Lavi walked into the corridor between the kitchen and the dining room's entrance. He only had two bedrooms. He remembered that his was a mess, so he was extremely careful to steer Allen away from it and directly into his new room. 

It was decorated really plainly. There was a single bed just at the right of the door, a desk under the window just in front of the door, framed with beige curtains that were nothing compared to the rich red color of the mansion’s, and a wide closet next to the desk. Lavi located the shelves, where the few books that Allen had brought could be placed. Yeah, everything fit perfectly. 

“It’s not as big as your mansion, but.” Lavi shrugged. Allen escaped from his grasp and looked over the room after leaving his bag on his new bed. 

“It’s good. The mansion can be too big sometimes,” said Allen. He turned to him and smiled. “it makes you feel weird. I needed a long time to get used to it. I was always getting lost.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure that you won’t get lost here,” laughed Lavi. He took some steps forward and messed his roommate’s white hair. Then he dodged the punch aimed at him, grinned and pointed to the door. “But, just in case, the door in front of yours leads to the office, where you are in danger of getting knocked unconscious by falling books, the door to the left of yours is the bathroom, and on the right you can find my room and you can go back to the living room. Ah yeah, don’t go into my room for a while.”

“Why?” asked Allen with a smirk. Lavi laughed nervously. 

“Well, simply put, it’s a mess,” he said. Allen laughed. “I’ll leave you to unpack everything. Do you prefer Chinese or pizza for lunch?”

“Chinese. Anything is fine, I’m not picky,” answered Allen while he searched around his bag. 

Lavi nodded and then walked back to the living room, where Timcampy was sniffing the sofa. The redhead grinned. Everything was going great, but he still needed to ask his grandpa about his powers. He decided to go the next day after classes. 

Ah, yeah, classes. He still had a normal life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...hey there. Yeah. So. University kicked my ass. Will this long-ass chapter make up for it? Who knows. Sorry. Um. Expect a chapter a month. Maybe. I usually lose track of time when I'm stressed. I'll try.   
>  Kudos for a stressed out engineer student? *finger guns*


	6. New old life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Lavi goes back to his "normal" life and Bookman explains things.

“Allen, what are you doing?” asked Lavi, staring at his roommate. 

“I’m going to your same University,” explained the boy simply. Allen slung a messenger bag over his shoulder and went out the apartment’s door before the redhead could say anything.

“What?” said Lavi and continued staring at him, keys in hand. Allen sighed. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

“I’ll study Economics,” explained the white-haired boy. He closed the apartment door after making sure that the dog was still in there, eating the leftovers of the previous day’s dinner. “I already graduated, but I have contacts on the rector’s office. I need to move, Lavi.”

“Weren’t you searching for your uncle?” asked Lavi, confused. Apparently, his new roommate wasn’t new to the city. Then he paused. Wait, he had graduated already? His hand twitched when he locked the door. Just how old was his friend? 

“I am,” huffed the boy. He pressed the button of the elevator and leaned on the wall. “But he isn’t here yet. I would know. And I don’t want to lay around doing nothing.”

“I think you’re the first person I’ve met that wants to live through university again,” admitted Lavi with a curious smile. Allen laughed.

“Yeah, well, I could do with some revising,” he commented. They got on the elevator and Lavi checked his phone for the hundredth time that morning. Lenalee was texting him almost constantly, reminding him to meet with her after classes. Really, Lavi was good friends with her, but this was excessive. She was starting to behave like her brother. 

“If you graduated, why aren’t you, like, working?” asked Lavi. He still didn’t know how old he was, and he didn’t know if he wanted to know. Taking into account their physical appearances, Lavi would be the older, but now, he wasn’t so sure. Plus, he felt that asking about his age would be kinda rude. 

“Ah, I’m kind of working as my family’s patriarch,” answered Allen with a halfhearted smile. “The family is an important part of the magic world, and that means lots of paperwork to fill in and administrate and all that boring stuff.”

Lavi was about to ask if there weren’t any more family members apart from Katerina and Allen, but he was afraid that there weren’t and that the conversation turned his friend into a depressed ball of angst for the rest of the day. So, he bit his tongue, and guided them to his red car. They got in and Lavi’s phone chirped again as he got another message. He sighed. 

“Here,” he said and gave his phone to Allen. The boy gave a soft hum and took it. “You are in charge of the messages for now.”

“What exactly do you want me to do?” asked Allen with a confused voice. He turned it on, tilted it so that the light reflected on the screen, and unlocked it with no problem. Lavi made a mental note to change the pattern as soon as he could. 

“Just read them to me and write,” answered Lavi. He started driving and whispered a curse when the first light was red. 

“Your friend Lena wants you to avoid someone named Kan-dah? Is that how you pronounce it?” Allen looked at him with furrowed brows and Lavi nodded. “Says he could try to hurt you… who the heck is this guy? Some kind of bully?”

“Ah, actually, he is my friend,” said Lavi with an uneasy smile. Of course Kanda wouldn’t let it go. He acted like he didn’t care, but he did. Sometimes, he cared too much. The worst part was that his methods to show it weren’t the best, either. 

“Doesn’t sound like a friend to me,” mumbled Allen and adjusted the grey scarf wrapped around his neck. “What do I write?”

“Eh, something like ‘I don’t want to die’,” said Lavi. The university was close, but it was rare to find somewhere to park, so Lavi continued on. Allen tapped at his phone. 

Lena didn’t send any more messages, so Lavi supposed she was at class. They found somewhere to park not that far from the university itself and Allen returned Lavi his phone. The redhead looked at the lock screen. He needed to change the pattern, but if Allen was that quick at figuring it out, he would probably have to change it to a password. He hoped that the white-haired boy wouldn’t figure it out. Oh, well, it was an unnecessary thing. Allen respected his privacy. At least, he hoped he did. 

“Do you know where you need to go?” asked Lavi when they were at the gate. Allen looked around with a small nostalgic smile. 

“Yeah, I remember,” he answered and his soft voice warmed Lavi to the core. “It wasn’t that long ago, you know.”

“Okay, yeah, so,” stuttered Lavi and Allen laughed. The white-haired boy had some special ability that allowed him to see right through him, but Lavi didn’t know him enough to guess how he did it. Sometimes it was helpful, but others, the redhead felt uncomfortable. It helped that Allen usually kept quiet. “We’ll meet up here with Lena before lunch and go to a restaurant.”

They parted ways and Lavi hurried to his first class. He felt weird going back to his old life after all he had been through. He felt even weirder not having Allen by his side. It had become a common occurrence, they went everywhere together, they laughed and joked. And now they lived together. 

His classes, for once in his life, passed slowly and he even felt bored. He loved history, could rant about it for hours, but he couldn’t focus. His thoughts traveled from how he was going to learn about his powers to how excited he was to see again his friends and introduce them to Allen. 

He acted on autopilot and moved through the day’s classes, avoiding people and stuck in his own world. He found himself daydreaming about the beautiful and immense wheat field where everything started. He frowned. He hadn’t had that strange dream again. 

By the time he had to meet up with his friends, Lavi was hungry and sleepy. He kept yawning while he walked. 

When he got to the gate, the meeting point, he saw the dark hair of his friend Lenalee. She was rubbing her hands, trying to warm them. 

“Lena!” he shouted and hugged her. The girl yelped and stumbled, but managed to keep her balance. “I’m so sorry, but you can’t imagine what I’ve been through! I need to tell you everything.”

When he raised his head from the girl’s shoulder, Lavi caught a flash of white. He let go of his friend. Lenalee was staring at him, analyzing him with her sharp gaze, making sure he was alright. Lavi grinned at her, because Lenalee was  _ really _ smart but he could still mask his emotions around her. It wouldn’t last long, he knew. 

“Ah, yeah, one of those things I need to tell ya… “ started Lavi. He looked over his shoulder at the boy clad in a dull green coat with a fluffy hood. His smile widened. “He’s right there!”

He quickly turned around, grabbed a surprised Allen’s arm and he dragged him forward until he was face to face with the Chinese girl. They blinked at each other, before turning back to Lavi. 

“Ah… You must be Lenalee,” said Allen with a small awkward smile. Lenalee returned it with more confidence and nodded. 

“I’m afraid I don’t know who you are,” said the girl and she chuckled. “But, I think you’ve been with him these past days. So, sorry. He can be quite a handful.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m a delight to be around!” yelled Lavi, making an offended gesture. Both younger teens laughed at him. 

“My name is Allen Walker, it’s a pleasure to meet you. And he’s not that bad,” said Allen with a chuckle. Lenalee joined him and, in no time, Lavi too. Then, the two stopped laughing and stared at each other. Lavi blinked. 

It was like they were communicating with slight gestures. An arched eyebrow, a grimace, a curious gaze. Lavi didn’t know if it was a good thing. 

Finally, Allen sighed, Lenalee closed her eyes and lowered her head. The white-haired boy looked at Lavi for a second, before returning his controlled gaze to the girl and curling his lips in a tired smile. 

“So you’re magic too, uh?” he mumbled and Lavi’s stomach did a backflip. 

The redhead opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come out. He closed it again, raised his hand and pointed from Lenalee to Allen various times. He couldn’t think of anything to say, the only sound that came from him was a confused squawk. Lenalee opened her eyes and Lavi nearly jumped when he saw how her dark eyes seemed to shine a bright purple. 

“Yes, Lavi, I’m a magic being,” she said softly. Allen and her looked around, then she grabbed Lavi’s arm. “Let’s go talk in another place. This isn’t safe.”

Lavi was still in shock while the younger girl dragged him around campus and towards the restaurant. It wasn’t really big, it was between two wide residential buildings, but it was homey and the food was amazing and cheap, one of the most important aspects for the students. Lavi and Daysia had discovered it some years ago and they became regulars, like in Anita’s bar. 

Lenalee quickly found a table and sat Lavi. Allen took the seat next to him and poked his side, knowing that he was ticklish there. The redhead moved around and nearly hit Allen with his elbow. 

“What has my life come to?” he lamented and messed his hair. Lenalee sighed and sat down in front of them. She took off her coat and left her notebooks on the table. Allen did the same and he pulled on Lavi’s own. 

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, okay?” she said hurriedly, hands raised in surrender. Lavi took off his coat and left it on his chair,before staring at Lena. Her eyes were normal again. “But there are rules. I can’t… I couldn’t tell you anything. You didn’t know about us, you didn’t know about yourself. I-”

“The magic world is ‘ruled’ by the Neo Black Order,” continued Allen. He looked worriedly at the girl, who was breathing too fast. “We, as magic beings, have the rule to never say anything about  _ what _ we are to normal humans. The consequences are severe.”

Lavi sighed. He wished people would stop shooting new information at him. The past week had been a terrible hurricane of emotions and shock and new knowledge that changed his life. He was still deciding if it was for the better or worse. 

“I understand,” he said with a low voice that only the people close to him could hear, the people who meant something to him. “Don’t worry. But, now I need you to tell me… What are you?”

Lenalee blinked, then she smiled and laughed. Lavi grinned too, reverting to his usual cheery persona. He could see how his white-haired companion smiled and folded his hands on the table. 

“Ah, well, I’m a fairy. A wind fairy,” she said with a small smile. Lavi hummed softly. 

“I don’t know why, but it suits you,” he laughed. Ah, good, Lenalee seemed more relaxed and happy. He caught white in the corner of his eye, because Allen still sat on his good eye’s side, and he grinned. “And, well, I guess it’s my time to tell you what happened.”

“You  _ must _ tell me what happened,” said Lenalee and she leaned forward, crossing her arms on the table. 

“Okay, so, I was stranded in a mansion for like, five days,” explained Lavi. He paused while the waiter took their orders, but then he continued. “Allen here told me I couldn’t leave and that I had to search for something to be able to. So, one night he just up and told me ‘you are surrounded by orange fire, uh’, and there I was, panicking.”

“So, what are you?” asked Lenalee eagerly tapping her heels on the wooden floor. Lavi grinned.

“I’m a wizard,” he said proudly. 

“Whose affinity is fire,” added Allen with a chuckle. Lavi blinked confusedly at him. He had read in some stories about that affinity, but he didn’t know if he could trust them. 

“Affinity?” repeated the redhead, hoping for an explanation. Fortunately, his two companions were patient. 

“Affinity is the element that a magic being can easily manipulate or create,” explained Lenalee. She paused as the waiter approached them with their food. They were lucky that they had found an isolated table at the restaurant. When the waiter was far enough, she continued. “All magic beings can manipulate elements if they have enough focus. But wizards have the ability to do more difficult tasks with them, they can do potions and sometimes summonings.”

“But summonings are illegal, just so you know,” said hurriedly Allen. Lavi chuckled. “Anyway, you will have an easier time controlling and creating fire. This does not mean that dominating water will be more difficult. It shouldn’t be, actually.”

“I see,” mumbled Lavi. It was more or less the same as in those novels, it seemed. “Then, what are your affinities?”

“Ah, mine is the wind, the element air,” answered Lenalee with a wide smile. She moved her hand, twirling her fork, and the curtains fluttered for a moment before falling still again. There were no windows open.

“And yours?” asked Lavi. He realized a moment too late what he was doing. He was  _ prying _ . He was prying on  _ Allen _ . The boy who, faced with the question of what he was, adopted an expression so terrified, so vulnerable, that it made Lavi want to swallow his whole plate. 

He waited, fidgeting with his fingers, trying not to say something more stupid and ruin it completely or kneeling on the floor begging for forgiveness. Allen had lowered his head, solemn grey eyes focused on his food and grip too tight around his fork and knife. Lenalee was watching the redhead with a concerned gaze and furrowed brows. Lavi shook his head. He had been an absolute idiot. 

“My affinity… is dual, light and darkness,” he replied in a low voice. He raised his head and Lavi would be lying if he said his heart didn’t hurt when he saw the sad smile on his face.

“A… Dual affinity?” whispered Lenalee. Then her eyes widened and she gasped. “Did you… You’re a Walker, right? Then… “

“I’m the patriarch of the Noah Family, yes,” said Allen softly. Lavi looked between them, confused. Noah family…  did it have any relation to the family the Bible depicted? “And, I was in the Neo Black Order 20 years ago.”

Lenalee lowered her head too fast, her grip on her fork tight until her knuckles were white. Lavi bit his lip. Was that related to the white-haired boy’s reaction when asked about his race? Was that the reason he was so tense and afraid and furious when he talked about that Order? Was the Order full of Tengu? Lavi still remembered how Allen had gripped tightly the pen he was writing with when noting down the name. 

“So, yeah, I’ll go talk with my grandpa after my last class today,” said Lavi with the most cheery voice he could manage. He couldn’t stand the sudden tension and depressing atmosphere that the table was drowned into. “To ask him about my powers.”

“Ah, right, you should have a family member who is also a wizard.” Lenalee pried her gaze from Allen and smiled at Lavi again. “Even though it’s kinda frowned upon because of the religious undertone of the Order, magic beings can pair up with humans.”

“Yeah, I need to ask him a few questions,” he laughed Lavi. He sighed softly. Allen was still lost in thought, eating slowly, and his eyes were glassy. “Lena-lady, what did I miss these past few days?”

Lenalee started telling him of Daysia’s ideas, of Kanda isolation and moodiness, of Miranda’s new job in a clockmaker’s workshop and Marie’s new song. Lavi listened carefully and sometimes commented on the details. He tried to get his new friend to participate, but it was a slow process. To his relief, by the time they were eating dessert, Allen was more focused on the conversation and he talked more than before. Lavi’s smile seemed more genuine because of that. 

“I still have two classes,” said Lavi when they had finished. Lenalee was collecting everything she needed, her purple coat on and more awake thanks to the coffee. “So, we’ll head to gramps’ house after that. Ah, do you mind coming too? It’s not the best route, but I could always drop you off at home.”

Home. Lavi said that like they had always lived there. Allen seemed to think about it, then he smiled softly and shook his head. 

“It’s okay, I’ll go,” he said. Lavi nodded and waved to Lenalee when she jogged to the restaurant’s door. He turned to Allen with a concerned expression. 

“Are you okay, buddy?” he asked softly. He touched his shoulder carefully. “I shouldn’t have asked anything, so sorry-”

“It’s okay,” interrupted Allen. His voice was tired and his eyes had that infuriatingly sad shine that Lavi was starting to  _ hate _ with a burning passion. “Really, it’s okay. I can’t expect to keep my secrets forever if we're roommates now. I decided to trust you.”

Lavi found himself unable to respond to that. So, they spent the next 15 minutes in silence until Lavi had to go to class. The redhead exited the restaurant with a heavy heart and trembling hands. 

Lavi passed his last two classes the same way as the others. Distracted and lazy. He took some notes, but it was more like a revision of what they had covered for the exam than anything. 

He still thought of Allen and Lenalee’s words. Apparently, having a double affinity was rare, which he could understand. But, taking into account what he was learning from his two magic friends, he didn’t know if the Order was good or bad. He didn’t know its function, and he didn’t want to ask any of his two friends, seeing how they had reacted to the mere mention of the organization. 

The Noah Family, Lavi knew, appeared in the Bible, but he didn’t know if it was related somehow to the one Allen had mentioned. The white-haired boy had said that the family had influence in the magic world, but Lavi didn’t know its limits, or anything really. 

Allen only had one class in the afternoon, so when Lavi walked to the gate, the boy was already there, tapping at his phone. When he saw Lavi approaching, he raised his head completely and smiled. Lavi was relieved that he seemed to be back to normal, even if his eyes still hid that sadness. 

They fell in step quickly, side by side, and they chatted about class until they reached the car. 

“Where does your grandpa live?” asked Allen while he closed the door. 

“It’s not really far from here, but it’s on the other side of town from the apartment,” he said. He fidgeted with the keys. Allen hummed. 

He was nervous about talking with his grandpa. His grandpa was a serious and focused man, adamant to be involved in arguments and preferred to just watch from the sidelines. He had tried to drag Lavi to a similar position, saying that it would help him if he really wanted to be a successful historian. But Lavi had met his actual friends and, even if the old man didn’t really approve, he didn’t do anything to keep him from forming a healthy relationship with them either. Actually, Lavi was of the firm belief that the old man was fond of his friends. He hoped it was the same with Allen. 

He parked the car in front of the wide house. The curtains of the library were drawn, so Lavi knew that his grandpa wasn’t working. He was lucky. 

“This is it,” he said when they were both out of the car. They had left their bags in the car. 

“Do I need to know something, before meeting him?” asked Allen. His head was lowered slightly and he was shuffling his feet nervously. 

“Not really,” said Lavi some seconds later. He started walking to the door, Allen close to him. It was kinda cute how he could behave all anxious when meeting someone that was important to him, like Lenalee, Lavi’s friend. When he himself had met him, the white-haired boy had seemed relaxed and gentle, but as he knew him better, Lavi noticed how private he really was. Lavi snorted quietly and ringed the doorbell. 

His grandpa was always quiet when walking, so when the door opened suddenly, the redhead did not jump. Allen did. The boy’s arms jerked, but he didn’t do any other movement. Lavi grinned. 

“Hullo, gramps,” he waved. The serious and dark gaze of the old man was focused on him, but Lavi knew he had caught Allen’s silhouette behind him. 

“What are you doing here, Junior?” he asked. Always to the point. Lavi scratched his messy hair, heart beating loudly. His grin deflated. 

“Yeah, we need to talk,” he said with a softer voice. The elder stared at him for some minutes, before turning around and walking back into the house. 

Lavi nodded to Allen to go inside, holding the door open. It was finally time his only family member told him the truth. 

The house was full of bookshelves, even if they weren’t in the library and the big windows let the afternoon light enter. The old man led them to the living room, as tidy as ever. Lavi remembered when he still lived there, always reading and getting lost in his own little world. When his disorganized streak hit and he left the tower of books strewn around, his grandpa always scolded him and told him to put everything in its place. Because of that, Lavi knew which books were in each shelf by heart. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Allen D. Walker-Campbell,” said the old man. Allen and Lavi were seated on one sofa and his grandpa was across from them. He was staring at the boy, eyes serious but curious. Allen had jumped at being mentioned. “I know your uncle. You can call me Bookman.”

Lavi looked between them. His grandpa had never taken a clear interest in anyone before. It was surprising, but, at the same time, it made Lavi uneasy. For the hundredth time he wondered how much influence the Noah Family had. 

“Gramps, we need to talk,” said Lavi. His voice was firm and serious, something unusual, so he was expecting the curious stare from his companion. 

“If you’re with Walker, that means you know about your powers,” said Bookman. Lavi nodded.

“I’m a wizard,” he confirmed. He frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

Silence descended over the room. Lavi bit his lip. He needed his grandpa to tell the truth. He was the only family member he knew. Even if he wasn’t the only one, he still would have gone to him. He was the one who raised him and showed him the interesting parts of history. Bookman lowered his head. 

“Your parents were both wizards,” he explained finally. Lavi’s eye widened. “They met each other while on a journey to an arena where duels were organized. They created a team of three, named it ‘the three redheads’ and they participated on the duels.”

“I saw some photos, yes,” said Lavi. His grandpa had caught him searching through his desk’s drawers when he had found a photograph of his parents and he had let him hang on to it. He still kept it in a box under his bed with other objects he took with him when he moved.

“The final duel went badly,” continued Bookman. He had closed his black rimmed eyes. “Both of them died, the same as the other team’s leader. The other three got out alive, but they were marred by scars.” Lavi swallowed the lump in his throat. He could feel Allen’s gaze on him. “Now, the reason why I never told you anything, was because I couldn’t let my grandson die in a stupid way like most wizards. Wizards are arrogant and reckless. They think that they are better than most races because they can easily manipulate all elements perfectly. I couldn’t allow my only grandson to be like that.”

Lavi took a deep breath. It made sense, in a way. Then again, most things did, when it came to his grandfather. His common sense and logic were in another level, far more superior to his own. He almost laughed. His grandpa didn’t say anything because he was afraid for him. He didn’t want him to be an asshole that could die at anytime because he was too prideful and reckless. And, somehow, Lavi was glad. Because of that decision, he got to meet Lenalee, Kanda, Daysia, all of his friends. He got to meet Allen. He could study something he really liked, History. And now, older and more mature, he knew what he had to do. He would not become one of those haughty wizards. Not a chance. 

“Are you a wizard as well?” asked Lavi. The tension that had enveloped them some seconds ago lifted and Lavi could relax his shoulders. Now he was just curious. Allen moved at his side and Lavi knew, without turning, that he had relaxed as well. 

“I could have been,” answered the old man. His eyes were open again, with that serious shine, but Lavi could see care and relief behind the usual wall. “I only mastered the air, my affinity, and chose to study instead of going around the world looking for trouble.”

“What were my parents’ affinities?” asked the redhead and nearly laughed at what he assumed his grandpa’s face had been when someone tried to convince him to continue learning magic. 

“Your father’s affinity was air, but your mother’s was fire,” replied Bookman. He looked Lavi over. “What is your affinity?”

“Fire,” answered Lavi quickly. He had inherited his mother’s affinity, which was fitting, because they’ve always said he was more like his mother, anyways. Well, his grandpa was who had said that, because he was the only person Lavi knew who had met his parents. 

“I expect that you’re doing well in University,” said the old man. Lavi glared at Allen when the boy chuckled. Then he looked over at his grandad with a rueful smile. His dark gaze sharpened. 

“Well, you see, I haven’t had that much time to study,” he explained and he jumped when Bookman suddenly stood up. “Because I’ve been stranded in the Campbell mansion! You know I always study!”

Bookman kept his dark eyes focused on his grandson, before sighing softly and turning to Allen. Lavi breathed in relief. Bookman was scary when he wanted. 

“The Order is moving again, Walker,” said Bookman, tone solemn. Allen quickly perked up, grey eyes sharp. “I do not know why or how, but you should have enough power to stop them, if you think that their methods are not the most suitable.”

“I will make sure to stop the Neo Black Order if need be,” said Allen confidently. Bookman nodded solemnly in response.

Lavi frowned. It was clear that the Neo Black Order wasn’t a benign organization, if even his own grandad warned someone. Lavi was tempted to ask Bookman about Allen. If the boy had some kind of relation with the Order, the old man would know. He always knew, specially if it was related to political matters. But he wouldn’t. Allen had said earlier that he trusted him. He could feel a familiar warmth going through his body. 

He just hoped that whatever thing had happened between Allen and the Order wasn’t as bad as he was imagining it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *squints at it and compares it to the most recent piece of writing* My writing style has changed. Well, heck.   
> I'm sorry, I've been working in another (monstrous) fic. I will still update this one, but... yeah. The new one is a Sci-fi/reincarnation fic, for dgm too.   
> I usually post things (eh... complaints) on my tumblr: @thesilversky99, or my twitter: @irisinally, so check them out if you want to contact me.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first serious project. And hey! It's Laven yay! There's never enough of it and I've been craving a fantasy AU for them so... It's gonna be pretty long (cuz I can't stop) and I'm trying to be chapters ahead just in case. I can't say for how much it's gonna run so smoothly, tho. I'll post the next chapter on Saturday, which features a hysterical Lavi and a too-patient Allen.


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